At War with a Scorpion
by FantasyFollower
Summary: "Dad, how can you even ask if I've forgiven that self-absorbed, cocky, pain in the ass? Remember what he called Mum in first year? Stop listening to rumors! I will always hate him - even if he's suddenly being so sweet and funny and I can't help but think that I've misjudged him all along... Aaand I'll just go burn this parchment before anyone sees it!"
1. Prologue: First Impressions

**Warning in advance: It's a romance. Not an 'I love you, no I love you more' romance, but the point is still to get the characters together in the end. Also, I'm not British and will not insult them by trying to write in British English when I know I can't. You'll have to be happy with South African English. =)**

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**Prologue**

**First Impressions**

The train slowed down with a loud metallic screech before finally coming to a dead stop, jolting me forward in my seat. I swallowed hard, trying to block the nervousness that suddenly threatened to overwhelm me. This was it; this was where I was going to spend the next seven years of my life becoming what I so desperately wanted since I was old enough to understand: a fully trained witch.

_Just as good as mum_, I told myself with forced confidence.

It had been difficult growing up as the daughter of two of the three heroes of the wizarding world. There were many people that had often pretended to be my friend just so they could tell everyone that they were friends with the daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley. It had served as a lesson and I had had to learn how to judge the true intentions of people from the second I met them. It was going to get worse here, I knew that. Here there would be many people trying to work up connections and I wasn't exactly that hard to spot with my Weasley red hair. And then there were my cousins…

I turned my head to the side where my cousin Albus Potter was sitting. His untidy black hair waved slightly in the evening breeze that was filtering through the open window and his green eyes sparkled with a smile from a secret he was refusing to share. He had looked like that from the moment he had climbed onto the train after his father had whispered something to him. Whatever it was, it had worked like a charm. Instead of being the nervous Al who had appeared on the train platform, he had turned into his usual charming and teasing self. His teasing had centred on my need to be prepared for disembarking hours before anyone else had even started to think about it. I didn't care. Who wanted to rush and worry in the last few minutes of the journey instead of watching the scenery and relaxing? Al had fixed me with his usual 'you are mental cuz' look and gone in search of the lunch trolley.

That had been my excuse at least. At that last few minutes of the journey while everyone had scrambled to get into their school robes, I had sat there like a nervous lump while staring into space. We could have been travelling through candyland and I wouldn't even have noticed. Everything was going to go wrong, I just knew it! My hand clutched so tightly at my robes that I could feel the knuckle turn white.

"Rosie, you okay?"

I looked up into Al smiling face and slowly felt myself regaining control. _I can do this_, I thought furiously before bobbing my head once in a nod. A bell sounded in the distance and footsteps echoed through the corridors as hordes of students got to their feet and competed to get out of the train first.

I took a deep breath and rose with Al. We had been told to leave out things in a pile outside the train, so with a number grunts and lots of pulling we managed to pull our bags free from the luggage rack.

"Thank goodness the big bags get stored outside," Al said as he pulled down the last bag. Okay, Al did most of the grunting and pulling while I stood there and gave him advice. Everyone has something they're good at and bossiness seemed more my thing anyway. "Ready to go?"

"I guess," I yanked my bag up and swung it over my shoulder, smacking Al on the shoulder in the process.

"You're going to maim me woman," he said in a fake angry tone, rubbing the spot with his opposite hand.

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Al, you know I'm accident prone."

"I don't think that's the right word." Al sounded thoughtful. "Accident prone suggests you have tendency to hurt yourself a lot, but you never hurt yourself, just others,"

Sticking my tongue out at him I exited the room, before fighting back nerves as I squeezed through people to get to the door and accidentally banging a few of them with my bag as I went. By the time I managed to half fall out the door I was fighting back a deep blush as well as my nerves. I dropped my bag on the pile and waited for Al who, not use to shopping with a mother that had been muggle born, wasn't quite so skilful in slipping through the hordes.

Unfazed at waiting – dad never managed to keep up either, which was probably why he always refused to come with us – I took the opportunity to take in the sights around me. The sun was already setting in the horizon, its light orange rays gliding over the still waters of the lake before joining together in a mirror image of sun above in the centre. The light breeze didn't even stir the water, just caressed them into a gentle tugging motion.

In the far distance the castle jutted proudly into the sky, its windows lit from the lights within to make it look like the homes of princess in muggle books. Mom had always loved them and had passed down that love to me. I could already picture the inside, the long stone corridors, the dark dungeons, the stairs that spiralled up the towers until your legs screamed in protest. I hadn't actually seen them before, but it was all in _Hogwarts, a history_.

I gasped in horror, and spun around to find Al right in front of me. He dropped his bag, swinging around in one swift move only to find there was nothing there. He turned back in confusion.

"Eh Rose, what's wrong?"

"My book!" I shoved him out of the way. "I forgot my book!" Not even waiting for him to catch up I ran back to the train, this time luckily not harming anyone in the process. I had just reached the door when someone grabbed me by the arm.

"Where are you off to Rose?" It was Hagrid, the groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor at Hogwarts. He was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix and an old family friend. Hagrid wasn't really what anyone could call small, not with him being half-giant and all, but he had a heart of gold and wasn't dangerous at all, even if he did have a love for potentially lethal creatures.

"I forgot my book Hagrid," I explained quickly.

His broad mouth, hidden beneath a mass of black beard, turned up in a grin and his black eyes twinkled. "Then go get it 'fore it's too late," Without warning he lifted me and half tossed me inside the train. I was grateful for the assistance, even if I did almost land on my head in the process. The train was now empty, making it easy to run through the carriages until I came to the compartment Al and I had sat in. My book was still where I'd left it, half tucked into the seat cushion. Breathing a sigh of relief I snatched up my book and rushed out the compartment, only to run straight into someone.

I stumbled a little, unhurt as always, and the person helpfully grabbed me by the arm to keep me up. I started to thank him slash her when I realise the person wasn't letting go. My eyes flew up and I realised with dismay who it was.

Storm grey eyes looked down at me as Scorpius Malfoy smirked at me, his blond hair looking even lighter from this close.

"Weasley," His voice echoed the smirk on his face and I felt myself atomically scowl in response. I hadn't taken dad serious when he'd said that I should beat him in every subject, but I was beginning to see why I might want to. The way he looked at me, like I was something to be laughed at or judged, was leaving a sour taste in my mouth. "Studying already?" With an unexpected yank he pulled the book free of my grasp before stepping backwards to examine the cover. He was defiantly laughing at me now. "What, afraid you'll get lost already?" He handed the book to one of the boys standing behind him who started laughing the instant he realised what he was holding.

"So what if I am?" I wasn't usually cold toward anyone, especially people I didn't know, but somehow he was bringing out my father's side of me – the temperamental side that wasn't all that eager to reveal most of the times. "Maybe I don't want to walk into my first class and look like an idiot." I added bravely.

Malfoy didn't see my point. "Really Weasley? Yet, I'm pretty sure no one here has any idea what's going on, so preparing to look better that the rest only means you're trying to show off." He nudged his friend in the side. "But what else can we expect from someone with a mudblood mother?" His friend roared with laughter but I could have disagreed an inch more. Suddenly blood rushed to my ears as my hands started shaking with anger. Without warning I lunged forward and sank my fist into Malfoy's stomach. Caught by surprise – he didn't think I was a violent person either – he was unprepared and double over in pain. I snatched my book from the hands of his friend who was now slowly backing away in fear of receiving the same treatment. I didn't plan on an encore though, already more than shocked enough by my unexpected behaviour. Well, he was the one who had called mum a mudblood.

I swung around and marched out of the train, unaware that I had just commenced the war that would run the length of my years at Hogwarts.

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**Next chapter will be 5 years later. ****I know Malfoy seems like a bit of a prick at the moment, but hey, everyone grows up eventually, right?**

**I know it's short, but it's a prologue!**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

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	2. 1: An Unwelcome Surprise

**Hi guys! I hadn't thought it was possible to write another chapter so soon, but I found this chapter really easy to write. I hope the rest will be too!**

**Super thanks to all the wonderful reviewers: Aireen, Dramione-Fan 17, EmberLady, RealGirlsHaveCurves, m0rganosity, hi and anime-is-dumb!**

***NB* In the story Hermione raised her children in a mixture of wizard and muggle ways, so Rose grew up doing muggle stuff like watching tv, going to the movies, etc. It just makes her thoughts easier to work with.**

**I apologize if there are any spelling or grammatical errors as my time is really limited and I'm still debating if I should get a beta.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

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**Chapter One**

**An Unwelcome Surprise**

_**Five Years Later:**_

"Rosie," The voice slowly infiltrated my sleepy mind, slow and soft as if my brain was cotton wool that first had to absorb the words before they made any sense. "Rose!"

I came awake with a start, panicking when all I saw was darkness, then realised it was only a spare piece of paper that was stuck to my face. I quickly yanked the paper away, cringing slightly at the sucking sound it made as it let go. Anne, my best friend since first year, stood in front of me, her mouth curled in a slight smile she was desperately trying to hide.

"Have a good sleep, darl?" she teased.

Blinking away sleep I cast a look around me. I had fallen asleep at the table I had been studying at last night, my homework acting as a pillow – a very hard one, but compared to the backache the chair had given me it had been feather soft.

Anne took one look at my essay, her eyes returned to me then suddenly shot back again. "You know that essay isn't due for the next two weeks, right?"

"Yeah, I know," I slowly lifted my arms, winching in pain as my stiff muscles protested the movement. "Al's already warned me that if this continues I'll have no life come the summer,"

"He's one to talk. All he does is Quidditch Quidditch Quidditch," Anne voice was laced with bitterness. Try as he might, Al had never been able to convert her into the fanatic fan he wanted. Anne didn't like Quidditch, full stop. The more Al tried to convince her, the more she hated it. It was normally my job to sit there and pretend that I cared while they had their comfy little spat. It usually ended with them refusing to believe they're wrong and demanding that I be on their side while I sit there nodding like a loon. Why either of them wanted a loon to be on their side was still a complete mystery to me.

Right now however I didn't need to nod my head to look like a loon. I had seen my face in the mirror thousands of times before and knew what I looked like before my hair had seen a brush. Two words: not good! Still half asleep I gathered my books and papers and (unsuccessfully) tried to stuff them into my bag.

"What time is it?"

Anne casually studied her watch. "Uh, ten minutes before first class."

"What!" I shot up like a missile, tipping the table over in the process. Anne, use to my gift of causing pain to most unfortunate souls around me, dived out the way just in time. "Why didn't you tell me?" I didn't wait for an answer, instead I shot up the stairs of the girl's dormitories, nearly running a first year flat in the process, and barged into the room I shared with Anne and three other sixth years. Sliding over the floor I landed tummy first on my bed and dug through my trunk for fresh cloths. I gathered them with such speed that Giselle didn't even notice me until I was heading out again (in her defence she was probably too busy trying to make herself look like Hogwarts' next top model to notice much else).

"Hi Rose!" I heard her call as I barged out the room, follow immediately by, "Eh, bye Rose!" I dressed in record time – or at least it would have been a record time if I hadn't tried to pull my legs through the armholes of my robes. Not the brightest moment – and yanked the brush through my hair so that I could secure my long red hair in a ponytail. One look in the mirror told me I looked like an animal that had escaped from the zoo, but I didn't have time to be picky. I hurried downstairs again, nearly flattening the same first year who was still standing shell-shocked on the stairs.

"I thought you were up and finished with breakfast already," Anne explained as I scooped up my bag and irritably tried to stuff the resistant contents further down.

"Hmm?" Giving up, I swung the bag over my shoulder, both the bag and my shoulder – and Anne who once more had to duck and cover – protesting at the treatment.

Anne sighed. "Your question. 'Why didn't you tell me?' Remember? I didn't tell you cause I thought you've up for ages. No offence Rosie but that's not entirely the best place to sit if you want to be noticed."

"Which may be why I was sitting there," I hinted as I pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady.

I didn't have to turn around to know Anne was narrowing her eyes. "I'd be more thankful if I were you," she informed me airily, "I could have just left you there until lunch, you know. Think of all the wonderful jokes James would have had waiting for you then,"

I could imagine it, quite clearly actually. James never let a chance slide to make fun of me, either cause it made him happy or because he saw me ignoring him as a challenge. Fifty-fifty probably.

"Okay okay, you know I appreciate it," I turned to smile at her. Anne and I had made friends in our first class – transfiguration – at Hogwarts and had stayed tight friends ever since. Al was the other member of out little group but after being made Quidditch captain at the beginning of the year (something Uncle Harry was far too proud over – he mentioned it to every single witch or wizard that laid eyes on Al over the holidays) he seemed to have more and more duties. Then there was my prefect duties and academics mixed in there as well and it all equalled a big 'no time for friends'. "So, how's – eh – Mike?"

Anne rolled her eyes. "I broke up with Mike last week Rose, it's Jake now,"

I forced a smile. It was getting harder and harder to keep up with Anne's constant stream of 'admirers' nowadays. Last year she had suddenly grown out of her awkward stage and now it was like she was holding a sign the proclaimed 'date me if you're hot'. I on the other hand was closer to becoming the Minister for Magic than I was of growing any less awkward. I was now Anne's official 'holder'. Ever time she laid eyes on a hot guy it was quickly followed by, "Here Rose, hold this," while she escaped to have a nice chat. I didn't mind holding her bag, what are best friends for and all, but by some weird twist of fate it always happened on the days we had the most subjects in a row and thus the most books in our bags. My bag could already be used as a test in the _Worlds Strongest Man_ competition, but the two of them together… well lets just say I should be winning that trophy. I tried giving mine to Anne once so she could feel how bad it was to get dumped with the baggage, but she had instantly put them down, put on her damsel in distress face and said, "My these bags are heavy," In three second flat two boys had appeared and offered to carry them for her, the one getting mine almost dislocating his shoulder in the process.

Anne smiled as her thoughts returned to her now boyfriend. "You know Jake –" Eh, actually I didn't. "- he's just so sweet and caring. He's taking me on a date this weekend on our Hogsmeade visit, I hope you don't mind?"

Well, there was another Hogsmeade visit I was going to have to spend alone. "No, you go enjoy yourself with Jack –"

"Jake,"

"Whatever. I'll just be doing the usual Rose things. You know, study, yell at some rule breakers, finish my essay in advance –"

"Fight with Malfoy," Anne giggled.

I narrowed my eyes at the name. "No comment,"

Anne just rolled her eyes. "Fine, change of topic. How about we talk about your annoying habit to finish work way in advance nowadays?"

I shrugged. "What can I say, my life has recently taken a turn for the worse and become extremely busy. My best friend had abandoned me for Jack –"

"Jake,"

"- my cousin spends most of his time with a broom and the professors seem to think I need more homework." I sighed dramatically, "It seems the only one who hasn't abandoned me yet is my studies,"

"Use that tone with them and I assure you a different result," Anne muttered, but I could see her failed attempt at hiding her smile.

I mirrored the motion, once more thankful that I had made such a wonderful friend. Anne's dad was a pure-blood while her mom had been a muggle born witch, just like my mom. She had heard about my family and who I was just like all other wizard raised children, but had never judged me or only tried to make friends with me because of who I was, something that had been a rare treat at the beginning.

We had managed to reach the transfiguration class just in time and sat down at the exact moment the bell had rung. I breathed a mental sigh of relief. I may look like someone had run over me with a bulldozer, but I was on time. And surprisingly enough Professor Burke was late.

Great, so I'd nearly flatten ten people in my rush to get here for nothing. I sat back in my chair, wishing the back pain from last night's comfortable sleeping experience would disappear.

"I wish I could magical make back ache disappear," I complained to Anne.

"I'd aim for my hair first if I were you Weasley," a soft voice drawled behind me.

I froze as solid as an ice-cream left in the fridge for a month. I tried to remember how I'd missed such an obvious mistake when we had entered the room, but all I remembered was following Anne to an empty seat. I hadn't seen him anywhere nearby otherwise I'd have quite happily sat on the floor.

I half turned in my seat, desperately wishing there was something wrong with my hearing and that the person I despised most wasn't sitting right behind me. In typical Rose luck, my nightmare came true. Scorpius Malfoy smirked at the irritated scowl on my face, his one eyebrow raised slightly as if daring me to retort.

I could see it already. Me smiling back sweetly before grabbing my wand and happily cursing him until he looked more like a snail that a person. If only that daydream could ever come true. But it would naturally end in me being sent to the headmaster's office and then getting expelled. I bet Malfoy would have just loved that happening.

Instead I just turned by sarcasm control button higher. "Why Malfoy, I didn't know you had a problem with your hair. I'm pretty sure I know a good stylist if you want the number."

Malfoy's smile didn't even waver. He was so use to our daily 'I hate you, you hate me' speeches that he knew a reaction was the worst possible thing you could give the other one. "Thanks Weasley, but if that's the end result, I'm not sure that stylist can really be trusted."

It wasn't that hard to pretend like he was complimenting me. Like I said, it was our daily routine. If Malfoy didn't insult me I'd be so worried that I would alert St. Mungos that there was a deadly disease going around. The insulting was still okay, annoying but not something that I couldn't handle. It was when it went beyond that that things normally got difficult and unfortunately it had a tendency to go beyond that. Irritating usually led to bickering, which led to full fledged arguing, which in turn led to duels that were fought for weeks in the form of cursing the other person on sight (and out of sight of the teachers). The curses were never so dangerous that they were almost lethal, but they did sometimes cause more damage than they should. Malfoy never cared that I'm a girl, but I had to admit he usually picked curses that caused more damage in the embarrassment department than the hurt department. We'd been laying low the last while because of all the work that was being forced on us, but I'd know it had been too good to last. Looking at the mischievous twinkle in his grey eyes, I knew there was something planned, something that almost always meant trouble for me.

"I'm sure Katy will be heartbroken. She's always looking for a guy to help attract more male customers,"

That brought the reaction I had been waiting for. Guys are so easy, just hint that they might be gay and the fireworks instantly come alight. He forced the smile back into place, obviously pissed that I had managed to wipe it off in the first place. "To bad, looks like she'll have to make due with Hugo,"

My smile didn't disappear, it morphed into a deep scowl paired with a death glare. How dare he hint that of my brother! He was only fourteen! Just because he hadn't had a girlfriend yet didn't automatically mean he didn't want one, and judging from the way he drooled after Zoey Stone he was obviously interested. Plus I was sixteen and hadn't had a boyfriend yet, so what?

"This is between me and you Malfoy, leave Hugo out of it,"

My words only made him smugger. "If you can't handle the heat, stop trying to keep up with the professionals. Piece of advice Weasley, learn to keep that tongue of yours in check. Otherwise you'll be never survive the next few days,"

"Why, there something happening that I should know of?"

His smile turned cryptic. "Let's just say you'll be seeing a lot more of me,"

"Don't tell me, it's follow a Weasley week? Darn, I knew I should have checked my calendar!"

Malfoy didn't even blink. I'd been using sarcasm on him for years now and he knew it was better to ignore it rather than encouraging me by replying. He did however start smiling even wider. "Don't tell me you don't know Weasley,"

Okay, this I found curious. Not that I was going to give him the satisfaction of telling him so. "Don't know what? That you're a prick? Sorry Malfoy, I've known that from day one, I just thought it nicer not to say it in your face. Oops, there goes that plan."

"Ah, and you were trying so hard to hide it too." He didn't even sound close to meaning it. "But no, I was referring to the interesting change of events." At my raised eyebrow he shook his head sadly. "And I thought you two were best friends." Note, no true sympathy at all. "Look to your left Weasley."

I could have been stubborn and refused while simultaneously sticking my tongue out at him, but curiosity got the better of me once more. I instantly regretted it. Anne hadn't accidentally missed the blond baboon sitting behind us in her hurry to get to class. No, it was pretty clear she had chosen this spot on purpose so that she could suck face with Malfoy's best friend Smith, which was exactly what she was doing right now.

Shoot me now.

I turned my attention back to Malfoy. "That's Jack?"

"Jake," he corrected.

Okay okay, I know I did that a lot, but it was really funny seeing people correcting me even though I knew what his true name was. Unfortunately for Jake he was going to be Jack for the duration of the time he was Anne's new boyfriend. I made a mental note to accidentally call him Jake when he and Anne were finished. I knew that that sounded mean, even in my own head, but come on, she was dating a Slytherin for goodness sake! And not just any old Slytherin, she had to pick my archrival's best friend. It was kind of making my sympathy skip out the door. That and the fact that she was sucking face like she needing it as much as the air she breathed right next to me.

Malfoy noticed my evil smile before I realised my lips had mirrored my brain.

"What are you thinking?" he asked carefully, like I was a suicidal idiot with a bomb strapped to my chest and talking too carelessly would make me trigger the switch.

"Nothing," I said innocently before turning my back on him and fishing my books from my bag. I held the huge book up for inspection and examined the cover with a critical eye before 'accidentally' dropping it right on Anne's foot. She instantly broke the kiss to yell in a mixture of surprise and shock. It couldn't have been pain, the book wasn't _that_ heavy.

"Rose!" she breathed angrily.

"Oops, it was an accident," I smiled innocently, half afraid Malfoy was going to deny it, but no sound came from behind me.

"Did you have to take out the book? I think I may have bitten Jake's lip…"

I looked back at him and had to physically restrain myself from laughing in his face. Yes, Anne had taken a chomp on his top lip and he was now frantically trying to wipe the small trickle of blood away. I turned back to Anne unworried. "Don't worry, Jack's fine. But piece of advice, I'd hide my cannibalistic tendencies till later in the relationship if I were you,"

"Thanks," Anne's replied dryly before turning back to Smith to apologize.

Curious as to why Malfoy hadn't ratted me out when he had the chance, I glanced back over my shoulder. To my surprise he was shaking with silent laughter. Catching me looking at him, his lips curled into a broad smile and one eye closed in a wink. I on the other hand stared at him in horror. Did Malfoy agree with me that this relationship was destined for failure? Me and Malfoy agreeing on something, the mere thought made me nauseous. We couldn't agree, we were mortal enemies for goodness sake!

"You're going to ruin their relationship just because you can't stand that Jake's best friends with me, aren't you?" Ah, normality had returned!

"Who are we kidding Malfoy, Slytherins and Gryffindors can't get along no matter how hard they try. It's destined to fail,"

"Once more Rose Weasley shows that no one's opinion but hers matters,"

"That's not true!"

"Oh, yeah, then why do you always stubbornly refuse any change?"

"I'm not stubborn! At least I don't think I'm they greatest creature in existence!"

"Bossy!"

"Annoying!"

"Crazy!"

"Idiot!"

"Know-it-all!"

"Pig!"

"Sorry I'm late class, please open your books at page a hundred and seven!" Professor Burke had chosen that exact moment to stroll into class, instantly cutting off our argument. I sent one more any glare at Malfoy, who returned the favour but for the first time I saw a glint of humour in his eyes, like he found this whole situation extremely funny. For some reason that just made me angrier.

I swung around and smashed open my book, determined to get Malfoy out of my head as quickly as possible.

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It took me until dinner to get the annoying rat out of my head and for my good mood to return. It usually took a much shorter time span to get back to ignoring Malfoy, but he had reignited my temper when he spent the entire potions lesson trying to chuck pieces of paper into my cauldron. He had continued despite my constant glares until I had finally lost my temper and chucked the first thing I could find at him. By some miracle the item landed straight into his cauldron and set it aflame. I sincerely wished I had taken notice of what I was throwing because I wouldn't have minded to repeat the experience. Our potions teacher, Professor Gilbert, hadn't noticed our tiny war and had blamed the fire on the dust in the dungeons. How dust could cause fire I would never know, but chances were he just wanted someone to clean the dungeon so that he didn't have to. After sending someone to report this to the caretaker, he had taken a sip of my potion (a potion that left the drinker relaxed and happy for the next few hours) and shuddered a bit.

"Excellent Miss Weasley, but it tastes a bit funny. An A as usual."

I had twisted my head back to throw a triumphant look at Malfoy, but he had been too busy trying to put out the sleeve of his robe. Served him right.

I ate dinner like a starved woman, eating enough to make up for the breakfast I had missed. I regretted it instantly when we exited the great hall and Anne spotted Smith. She rushed off for another snogging session, leaving me feeling like I wanted to hurl. Watching Anne go I figured she didn't need my help getting back to the common room and instead set off by myself.

The next moment was so typical me, I don't know why it came as a surprise. One moment I was heading towards the grand staircase and the next moment my foot caught armoured foot of one of the suits of armour. I instantly went down like a shot jet and crashed into someone, landing on top of him on the floor. I tried to get up but the suit of armour followed me down, effectively pinning me to the person.

"Well well well, I know I'm irresistible to the ladies, but really Weasley, this is forward even by my standard,"

In pure horror I looked up to meet Malfoy's grey eyes.

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**Hope you guys enjoyed it.**

**Please review and let me know what you think! =)**

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	3. 2: The Tongue is Mightier than the Sword

**Thanks a million to everyone who added AWWAS to their alerts or favourites, and as always a special thanks to those who reviewed: ****LovelyLisa03, Aireen, RealGirlsHaveCurves, m0rganosity, Dramione-Fan 17, Marthe1990, AnnieBananie97 and Aria657.**

**Sorry for the delay but the thing is, I really don't have time. The chapter is a little on the short side but I hope you guys enjoy.**

**Any spelling or grammar mistakes are because of limited time. Sorry!**

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**Chapter Two**

**The Tongue is Mightier than the Sword**

Malfoy was one lucky son of a gun. No, not because he usually had girls falling over their feet to get to him, but because my legs were firmly stuck underneath the suit of armour. Otherwise I would have happily jammed my knee somewhere he would have found extremely unpleasant. Hey, I have a brother, I know how to fight dirty.

Okay, so physically maiming him was out of the picture but I always had tons of sarcasm at my disposal. Emotionally scarring him would have to do.

"Oh you caught me," I said dramatically, "I saw the long line of girls positively drooling over you and knew that if I didn't do something drastic I'd never get the chance to have my true feelings known. But now I have a chance and I'm not going to waste it. Here it is. Malfoy, I," I adapted the fluttering eyelashes and coy smile I'd always seen the girls around him use, "think you're an ass."

I'd don't know exactly what I expected his reaction to be. Maybe some sort of retaliation in the form of a mean comment that would, as always, lead to a verbal battle, but certainly not what he did do. Instead of retorting, he started laughing. I don't know how my brain works but for some reason it annoyed me a heck of a lot more when he laughed that it would have had he fought back. I was so use to the comebacks and backlashes that their absence made me uncomfortable. Swallowing a frown I dug my elbow into his stomach and used it as a leverage to get up. As he sucked in a surprised breath I got to my feet, making sure to step on his fingers as I did. He wasn't laughing anymore, I noted with a smile. Leaving him behind to count his fingers and get off the floor I attempted once more to flee to the common room. I wasn't going to win this fight that easy though. One hand shot out and held firmly onto my robe, effectively keeping me in place while Malfoy got back onto his feet.

"Now now Weasley, that's not very nice of you," he sounded like he was mocking me, but I didn't bother to turn around and look at his smug little face. Just because he was forcing me to stay didn't mean that I had to participate in the conversation. "Come on Weasley, since when do shy away from a chance to insult me?"

I swung around, my eyes flashing in anger as the pinned him with a glare. "I'm not shying away from anything Malfoy, I just don't see why I should waste my time conversing with you when it'll go exactly as it always does. I'll be sarcastic, you'll bait me, we both end up angry. Why don't we just skip to the part where I walk away?"

Malfoy smirked. "And miss the exciting sarcastic insults you always have hidden up your sleeve? That won't be any fun at all."

I forced myself to stay calm, keep a neutral face and pretend that I didn't currently have the overwhelming desire to toss him out the nearest window. Although that might ruin my spotless record, and the chances were pretty slim that I was physically capable, but on the other hand I had gotten away with hurting Malfoy without getting caught before.

I took a deep breath and put on a fake smile. "Sarcastic? Me? Never!"

His smile broadened slightly. "No, of course not. You just tend to twist words to suit your meaning."

"And that's your definition of sarcasm? Wait here a second and I'll go get my dictionary,"

"And never return, right?"

My expression turned innocent. "Would I ever do something so inexplicably rude?"

Malfoy remained silent, one eyebrow raised as if to say 'you're kidding right?' before saying, "Yes," in a flat tone.

Okay, I wasn't going to be able to defend myself there because truthfully I would do it, without even feeling bad about it either. The shocking part was that Malfoy actually knew me well enough to predict that without taking a second to think about it. Was I that predictable, or had Malfoy and I spent so much time squabbling that we sort of kind of knew each other. Oh Merlin, please let me be predictable, please let me be predictable! Wait, no I didn't want to be predictable, that would so suck the fun out of all the future pranks that I had in store for Malfoy. That little blond git was so going to suffer.

So instead of pretending to be outraged – some people found such trivial matters important enough to get worked up over, but we'd been in much worse fights before – I simply smiled slyly. "You sound a little dry Malfoy, perhaps a dip in the lake will make it better. Send my regards to the giant squid, who knows, if I'm lucky he just might drown you in retaliation."

"Oh I wouldn't do that. Leaving you to morn my loss would be so ungentlemanly of me,"

"True, it would put a damper on the first five minutes of the celebration party. But I've been known to cheer up quickly so I'm sure the rest will be a blast. The only downer would be that Anne wouldn't be there because she'll have to cheer Jack up." I tsked my tongue like it was a truly sad fact.

"Jake,"

"Whatever,"

"Hi Scorpius," Jake had suddenly appeared right behind me.

I nearly jumped straight into Malfoy's arms in fright, saving myself in time only because I knew I'd never hear the end of it if I did. I whipped around, forgetting that my robe was clutched in his hand, and unluckily tumbled into his arms after all. He looked down with a smug grim, I retaliated by growling at him like a rabid dog.

"Rose, and here I thought you and Malfoy couldn't stand each other! You sly dog you," Anne had joined the small party, catching me exactly where I wanted to be caught least.

I elbowed Malfoy sharply in the ribs for him to let me go, which he did instantly accompanied by a soft groan of pain. "Anne, you're back. I thought you and Jack –" Both her and Smith's eyes narrowed slightly, "– were off to look at the stars or whatever it is people say they do when in actual fact they go off for a snogging session."

Malfoy grinned slyly at the two of them over my shoulder. "Yeah, Weasley wouldn't know, she hasn't found someone desperate enough to take her to 'look at the stars' yet,"

I elbowed him a second time, this time catching him neatly in the belly. "Yes, and Malfoy's probably been so many times he's now running a two for one special. Oh look, there's two customers already, guess I'll have to miss out this time. Oh well, maybe next time. Ta ta and enjoy," Feeling overly smug I headed for the stairs, sure that this time I would make my escape.

"See you in an hour Weasley!"

I froze in place at Malfoy's words, my smile slipping down into a frown. Rolling my eyes in annoyance I turned around, pasting a cheery look on my face. "And why would that be Malfoy? Don't tell me you're working overtime to afford those girls you keep flaunting about? I'm sure if you admit the truth people won't think any less of you – then again, I'm not entirely sure they can."

Anne was hiding her face behind Smith's shoulder, probably on the verge of a giggle fit. For some reason she always thought the interactions between Malfoy and myself were hilarious. Until, that is, we involved her. Then they were just annoying. Smith looked unsure whether he should be defending his friend or just leaving the two of us to our little spat. He should have asked my opinion, I could have easily told him that Malfoy was a big boy who could defend himself. Merlin knows he'd had plenty of practise.

"Thank you for your assuring words Weasley, you always make me feel so much better."

"Oh you know, I live to please."

"However, I was referring to that note I passed you in potions. Didn't you read it?"

"Well, I'm not sure if your parents ever taught you this but boiling things tend to burn,"

"Yeah, and Weasleys seem incapable of catching anything," Even Anne, a fool when it came to Quidditch, knew he was adding to double meaning to include Hugo who played keeper in the Gryffindor team. I had better things to do that defend my brother's Quidditch skills.

"Well if we're all done insulting the Weasleys, maybe you could elaborate on what your note said. Next time I promise I'll risk a finger or two if you warn me it's important."

A glint of victory flashed through Malfoy's eyes, making me glare back in response to let him know this battle was far from over. Ignoring my warning he continued to smirk. "Prefect meeting nine pm tonight Weasley, the usual place. Can't wait to continue this 'charming' little conversation." With a wink he turned and disappeared around the corner, leaving me with a hand that itched to grab my wand and curse him into oblivion. The pig had known I would leave most of today's homework for tonight because I didn't have prefect duty tonight. A small thought brightened my otherwise gloomy mood. Keep smiling Malfoy, your turn would soon come.

"Don't smile like that Rose," I heard Anne say beside me, "It's creepy."

* * *

I walked back to my dorm feeling smug but a little peeved at the same time. I didn't know why, but Malfoy was getting more and more on my nerves. He was like a leech that was desperately trying to suck all normality out of my life. As per usual Al was missing in action. Anne was off with her new beau (three guesses what they were up to) and as usual I was left alone to be the modal student all the teachers and my mom expected me to be. As I flipped my books onto my bed I once more wondered how mum had done it. How had she managed to be so apt at her studies while simultaneously helping Uncle Harry save the word every five minutes? Maybe that was it, maybe the chances she got away from her studies made it all worth the while. Why else could she live a life I found so, okay I had to admit it, boring! There, I'd said it – to myself but what the heck – I was bored with being the perfect little Rose Weasley everyone always expected me to be.

I sat down with a thump. Who was I kidding, there was no way I could survive as anyone else. The only time I could force myself to be 'bad' was when Malfoy was around and he was the one who usually got in trouble. I thought about our encounter today. It had been fairly quiet compared to our bad fights. Nothing had been broken, disintegrated, vanished, thrown out a window or been tied to a Quidditch post. Truthfully Malfoy had actually been nice compared to usually. What was that slimy git up to?

"Rose, you up here?" Anne's voice floated up the stairs and I realised just in time that my knuckles were white from clutching my blankets too hard. I instantly let go and started gathering the correct books.

"Yes Anne, I'm just getting my book." As I picked up my potion book I made a silent promise to myself. I wasn't going to let Malfoy get on my nerve anymore. In fact I was going to treat him like he didn't even exist. Scorpius Malfoy was never going to get a reaction out of me again.

"Starting tomorrow," I muttered as I made my way to the door.

* * *

Ten pm saw a very moody and disgruntled me entering a class on the second floor traditionally used by the prefects for our fortnightly meetings. I had been so engrossed by the essay Professor Gilbert had set us for potions that I had completely forgotten about the meeting. If Anne hadn't been sitting right next to me and been checking her watch I would have most likely missed it. Something I was sure Malfoy would have been extremely pleased about. With luck I wasn't usually known to posses I had beaten the head boy and girl to the meeting. Al was already there, looking tired and dishevelled from Quidditch practice. It was weird seeing him so rarely nowadays. We were usually inseparable but lately his duty as captain had been claiming most of his time. Not to mention the prefect duties we always seem to have. It was usually the heads' duty to take the late patrols, but this year they had decided it wasn't such a good idea after all and split it amongst all the prefects. Most of us thought they were simply lazy. We each had a partner that we had to spend all five hours of duty with, something that was usually pretty annoying if you didn't like each other. I had been lucky, my partner was David Pierce, a sixth year from Ravenclaw. He was a shy guy that spent most of the time with his lips zipped firmly shut, but every now and then I managed to convince him to lighten up. He was surprisingly fun to talk to when this happened. He half lifted his hand in a wave when I walked past and I smiled in return. I took my seat next to Al only realising afterwards that I was now seated directly opposite Malfoy.

"Try not to spit fire," Al muttered next to me.

I fixed him with a glare. "I'm not spitting fire, Al, I'm just… warning him of the repercussions of messing with me.

"Right. Just as you were simply warning him that time you threw that bottle of ink at him."

"You know how bad my aim is Al, how was I suppose to know it would hit him in the head?"

Al shook his head slowly. "Rose, Rose, Rose. You'd think you'd have learned by now. You have a gift for hurting people, with or without meaning to in the first place. When your thoughts turn maliciously your plans tend to work."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said innocently. He and I both knew I was lying, I knew exactly what he was talking about. There were rare times when my accident prone abilities because useful. The majority of these times were when I was chucking things at Malfoy. Exhibit A was earlier in potions when I set him on fire.

Mental note: thank whoever the heck I inherited that from.

Second mental note: learn to ignore Malfoy. Even if he is grinning at me like a loon.

Third mental note: stop making mental notes.

Oh well, I knew I lost case when I saw one.

The Heads came walking in at a brisk pace effectively saving me from my mental ravings. Kate Bishop, the head girl, led the way, her arms filled to the brim with a stack of books. She was pretty much the kind of girl one usually expected when you thought about head girls. Almost academically strong, a pure natural at bossing every one else around while she sat on her behind, looked like a model fresh off the runway and made every guy within a five mile radius drool. You know, now that I think about it, she was actually the complete opposite of traditional. Kate slid past Malfoy, one hand slipping free from her leaning tower of books to skim over his leg as she went. I felt my eyes narrow. Typical Malfoy, every single girl in the bloody castle fell head over heels in love with him. Was I the only one alive that saw him as the true git he truly was?

Kurt Thomson followed in Kate's stride. Now he was a traditional head boy. In all honest he kind of reminded me of Uncle Percy – in a bad way.

"Glad to see you could all make it in time," Kurt's eyes briefly flickered to me. Hey, I was usually on time! He must have seen me sprinting across the hall with the speed of someone being chased by invading UFOs. That was his problem, I had still beat his snail like pace, hadn't I? I glared back, silently challenging him to back up that look. Naturally he didn't. "We're sorry for the late warning but we had little choice in the matter. One of you approached us last night to try and move prefect duty and Kate and I have decided it would add a little interest if we moved the whole schedule around about." By the look on his face it was easy to see that Kate was the only one who thought it may add a little interest. Kurt didn't look like he cared either way. "Now I'm not going to tell you who it was –" Al's bright blush next to me instantly told me it had been him "– and we'll appreciate it if you keep it that way. Now, we are going to give the boys a piece of paper and you're going to write your name on it. Then the girls are going to pick a name from the hat. That way we'll be sure the choices are fair." Yeah, cause there was no fairer way that pulling a name out of a hat. No wonder the two of them were Heads. With such innovative thoughts they could surely one day be in the running for Minister for Magic.

"Stop being sarcastic," Al whispered as he placed his piece of paper in a hat that was being passed.

"Don't tell me, you've mastered the art of reading minds! Quick, what am I thinking now?"

"You're thinking about throwing another object at Malfoy's head. Kindly don't."

"Darn, you're good! Do you do kids' parties too?"

Al ignored me and passed the hat on. As the hat made a full circle I could help but wonder who I was going to end up with. I hoped it was Al, or even David would be cool. Please don't get Kurt, please don't get Kurt!

Kurt stuck a hand in the hat and thrust the contents around before handing it to Kate.

"Ok, I'll go first so you guys can see what we have to do." Yes Kate, because most people between the ages of fifteen and seventeen had no idea how to pull a piece of paper out of a hat. Al elbowed me before I could voice my opinion. "Ok, here I go," Kate stuck her hand into the hat, her face lit with excitement, and pulled out a piece of paper. Her face instantly fell, but she covered it only a second later. "David!" her voice was filled with false happiness. Oh well, there went that plan. At least I still had Al left. Ok, I had Al until the next girl, a fifth year from Hufflepuff, chose him. Ok, I was screwed.

My chance to go seemed to take forever, despite the fact that I was within the first half of the girls to go. Every single guy that got chosen seem to be the not great but okay guys, each time seemingly leaving me with worse candidates. My palms begun to sweat as I stood up and walked all the way to Kate. Please not Kurt, please not Kurt… My hand closed around a piece that lay on the edge and with a heavy heart I pulled it out. Thank heavens, it wasn't Kurt. All I could see was an 'S', definitely not Kurt Thompson. Feeling relieved I folded it open and nearly died of horror. How could I have possibly forgotten about him? I met his grey eyes in dismay and was greeted by a smirk. He knew it was him that rotten, good for nothing, son of a…

"Rose," Kate's annoyed voice cut in, "who is it?"

I narrowed my eyes at him in challenge and muttered, "Malfoy,"

* * *

**Okay, hopefully not to melodramatic or rushed but I have 4 tests to study for and this was the only time I could squeeze in. So sorry for the length!**

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**Review and let me know!**

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	4. 3: Changes

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait! I hope the wait was worth it!**

**Thanks the most awesome people ever: loverofbooks20, Tanny Apple, Aria657, Dramione-Fan 17, m0rganosity, Loslote, Paperclipgail1728 and xXxtellmewhyxXx. Thanks so much for reviewing guys!**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Changes**

I wasn't going to sulk. No, that would just be plain childish. Instead I was going to think up a brilliantly sneaky plan that would end up with Malfoy in the hospital wing with several broken bones. Yeah, cause that wasn't childish at all. You know, now that I thought about it sulking was so much easier. And I loved being lazy when I was given the chance. Surprisingly that plan somersaulted out the window when I saw the sour expression on Kate's face. When it came to hating people Malfoy definitely dominated my list but Kate was an undisputed second. Even with Malfoy the fight was out in the open but Kate had a certain sneakiness that made her a difficult person to put in her place. She never did anything that suggested she disliked you where others would notice, but she had an unnatural gift for making your life a living hell behind your back. Gossip was the method she loved most, because honestly, who didn't like gossip that made the children of the golden trio look like complete and utter losers? Not that I needed her help for that. I managed to get every single person in sigh to scatter by simply using my clumsiness, thank you very much!

Besides me Al was sitting unusually stiff. I followed his line of sight to the fifth year Hufflepuff who was now his patrol buddy. She was giggling like mad, her cheeks flushed and her eyelashes flying up and down at Al. Good grief, how had he managed to get his number one fan as his partner?

"Kill me now," he muttered quietly.

He wasn't getting any sympathy from me. "You wanted to complain about prefect duty. Enjoy your just rewards."

He frowned harder. "Now Rosie, that's not fair. It kept clashing with Quidditch and I only asked them to move me, not every single prefect." He turned to me, his expression filled with regret. "Sorry that you got Malfoy. I know you two aren't exactly Scooby and Shaggy."

I snorted. "Yeah, we're more like Tom and Jerry. I call dibs on Jerry, he always wins."

"Spoiler alert," Al laughed. It was nice talking to someone who had also been raised in a house that was half wizard and half muggle. Uncle Harry had always thought it was ridiculous that most wizard had no idea what the most basic items in the muggle world were and had adapted mum's policy of raising their kids in both worlds. "But I'm being serious. Do you think you'll survive the year without killing each other in one of your legendary spats?"

"Since when have our spats been legendary?"

Al grinned. "You're kidding right? I mean, haven't you noticed that even the professors don't team you two up for anything?"

"Al, we usually sit on opposite sides of the room. It's not that odd."

Al suddenly grinned, his eyes gleaming. "Okay, how bout we make a bet?" Oh no, he knew I couldn't say no to a bet. Never ever in my life had I been able to resist the sweet urge to crush someone in some sort of activity. Except at Quidditch of course. My clumsiness meant I had an excellent ability to stay on my broom while accidentally flying into everyone else and knocking them from their brooms. The Gryffindor captain had been desperate to recruit me in my second year but the professor in charge had decided it would give them an unfair advantage. Within ten minutes I'd be the only player left in the air. Besides, I didn't really share Al's love for flying. I was dangerous enough on land as it was.

I narrowed my eyes at Al, not at all pleased that he knew my weakness so well. I chose my words carefully. "What do you have in mind?"

Al was looking extremely pleased with himself. "My theory, which may I add is definitely correct, dictates that even if you sat next to Malfoy the professors wouldn't chose you two as partners. There are a few group activities coming up this week so we can definitely expect results. So, my dear sweet cousin, I dare you to spend the next week sitting next to Malfoy in every single class you have together. If the professor picks him as your partner you win, if they don't I do. We'll decide on what we win later." I thought about it for a second. Sitting next to Malfoy, ugh, I'd rather pluck every hair on my head with a tweezer. But there were advantages to this plan as well. I'd be able to get back at Malfoy for earlier today and annoy the living daylight out of him. Anne wouldn't mind, she'd be sitting next to Jack – damn, the name was beginning to stick mentally – so there wouldn't be any complaining. It was time to get back at that git and in the process I would be crushing Al at the same time. Fine, I'd go along with his little bet. Just thinking of all the things I could make him do if – no, not if, when – I won.

My own smile turning evil, I nodded and took Al's outstretched hand in agreement. "Fine, I accept your bet."

Al looked way too sure of himself as he pumped my hand up and down. "This is going to be a breeze."

"You wish, Potter, you wish."

The rest of the meeting was typical of a prefect meeting – in other words Kate nagged on about useless things while the rest of us counted our fingers. Even Kurt, who like I mentioned was a mini Uncle Percy and loved everything to do with being in charge, was sitting with a frown on his face. Kate sure knew how to bore people to death. Even me, the person who could stay awake through an entire History of Magic class, felt my eyes droop. I was still fighting the urge when a small piece of paper suddenly hit me straight in the head before rolling down and landed perfectly in my lap. I knew where it had come from even before I unfolded it. Few people had the ability to throw something that would hit me in the head without bouncing out of sight and the only person in sight who could was dear old Malfoy. His head was turned to Kate, even his expression bored as he listened to the annoying speech. Okay, so he wasn't a fan of Miss perfect either. Seeing that he wasn't going to stare at me while I read, I unfolded the piece of paper.

_Shall I ask for another partner?_

The words caught me by surprise. There was no mocking undertone, no way that he was trying to get the upper hand on our next fight. It was almost like he was, heaven forbid, being nice and actually caring about what I thought. He turned his gaze to me and for a second I saw a strange emotion flash in their gray depths, an emotion that was definitely not the hate we were usually sprouting. What was going on with him the last while? It was like he had gotten tired of our fighting and wanted to make peace, which was just impossible. Yet, I had noticed the same thing earlier that day. Merlin he was a complicated person. I couldn't keep up anymore. Instead of trying to piece together what exactly was happening I turned back to the paper and the question it asked. Minutes earlier I would have jumped up and yelled "Hell yes!" at the top of my lungs but Kate's little glare had gotten me to rethink that decision. Obviously she wanted Malfoy as her partner and I wouldn't have minded getting David back, but neither did I really want to give her the satisfaction of winning this little game. Dear word, everything was turning into a game! And then there was Malfoy's new attitude... I obviously needed help and quickly. Especially because I kind of almost wanted to keep Malfoy as my partner. Where that feeling came from I'd never know. As I dug around in Al's bag for a quill I saw Malfoy was still looking at me and I met his gaze straight on. Making sure Kate wasn't looking I mouthed 'You want her?' pointing first at him then at Kate as I did. Both his eyes and the shake of his head seemed a little desperate. And then I did the one thing I swore I would never do when it came to Malfoy: I took pity on him. What possessed me to do so I would never know, but my hand flew over the paper with lightning speed as I jotted down two quick sentences and threw the paper back. I should have known not to do that because, lets face it, everything concerning me went way wrong. The paper, instead of soaring towards Malfoy, hit the person next to him in the head and would have rolled out of sight if Malfoy hadn't, by some miracle, managed to catch it. His lips turned up in a surprised smile as he read the words.

_Sorry to disappoint you then, but it seems you're stuck with me. P.s. Have I told you you're an ass lately?_

Hey, I couldn't be too nice, now could I?

* * *

I was in a surprisingly good mood the following morning. Anne, stunned because I was normally a moody bitch in the morning, talked slowly and carefully as if she was afraid I would turn into a roaring dragon at any moment. She needn't have worried. I couldn't even explain it myself but today just felt like a good day. I had gotten the biggest jerk on planet Earth as a partner the day before and had made a bet that meant I would be sitting next to him for the majority of the day, but I still felt like Christmas had come early. At this stage I knew no psychiatrist in the world would ever willingly declare me sane. I blamed my father, most things were his fault after all. Or so my mother claimed.

I was happily munching on my breakfast when Anne couldn't hold it anymore. She slammed her spoon down with a bang, scaring most of the people within hearing distance, and turned her glaring gaze at me. "Alright Weasley, spill."

I looked up from my eggs and bacon, my expression blank. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Of course I knew what she was talking about, I wasn't stupid after all, but denial was one of my strong points.

"Your mood." Anne nearly growled. "Usually you bite every single person who says hi's head off and today you look like you've just been told you won something you've always wanted. The last time I saw you yesterday you looked like you were being sent to your death, and now... Spill!"

I shrugged. "There's nothing to spill but my pumpkin juice,"

Anne wasn't giving up that easily. "Rose! Did you... I don't know, trip Malfoy down the stairs or something?"

"She wishes," The calm voice behind me actually got me to spill my pumpkin juice.

"Happy now?" I asked Anne as I dove for a napkin. "You told me to spill and I did. I'm a good girl."

Malfoy snorted. "Yeah, as good as a scorpion."

I tilted my head up to look at him. "No, actually that'll be you. You are Scorpius after all, aren't you?"

"Wow, she knows my name. I feel so honored." His tone was more teasing than insulting, so I simply shook my head and reached for another napkin.

"How can I help you Malfoy? I'm afraid I've left my vial of poison upstairs but I can go get it for you if you want."

"Thanks Weasley, how kind of you. But that's not why I'm here." He half twisted to search for something in his bag and a few seconds later drew out a folded piece of paper. "Our timetable. Kate has an amazing ability to corner a person when you least expect it. I'm afraid she only gave me one though so you'll have to copy."

I blinked in confusion. "Aren't we simply getting our usual five hour shift once a week?"

His expression turned sour as he shook his head. "That and they've used some of our free periods."

"Lazy bastards," I muttered, and without even thinking about what I was doing I shifted sideways to make room for him to sit while I searched for my homework diary. I only realized what I'd done when he was already seated and Anne was staring at the two of us open-mouthed. I ignored her, instead looking at the duty times. It was as if they had purposefully chosen the worse times possible. Our night duty was on a Friday when everyone was excited and restless because of the weekend and our free period duties were always squeezed in when we had a break between two classes. I had a sneaky suspicion Kate was somehow behind it all.

"I see you've gotten your duty list as well," Al said bitterly as he slid in on my opposite side. He didn't even look surprised at Malfoy's attendance, instead frowning as he pulled out his own timetable. His wasn't any better than mine, his duties on a Sunday night and also squeezed in between classes.

"At least it doesn't interfere with Quidditch," I said, my own voice laced with bitterness. "Speaking of which..." Without giving him any shape or form of warning, I swung my fist straight into his shoulder. As he yelped in pain I fixed him with a glare. "That's for complaining in the first place moron,"

He rubbed his shoulder tenderly, his frown settling firmer. "I guess I deserved that, but how was I suppose to know? Flip Rose, that hurts! Note to self, never make you angry. How on Earth are you still alive?" The question was directed at Malfoy who I'd almost forgotten was still there.

Malfoy grinned, not at all looking too sorry for Al's pain. "Years of practice."

"No kidding, eh?" I muttered before gathering some ink and a quill and copying down my new duties.

"The world is about to end, everyone run!" I looked up to find Jake standing behind Anne, his expression mirroring Anne's initial reaction. What, so me and Malfoy not fighting automatically meant the world was ending? Were we normally that bad? Okay, so we did normally have a good go at each other, but there were certain situations that demanded us to be civil, weren't there?

Instead of voicing my opinion I forced a sunny smile on my face and looked up. "Oh, hi Jack!" Out of the corner of one eye I saw a tiny smile flash across Malfoy's face before instantly disappearing. So he did think me tormenting Anne's new boyfriend was funny. Busted!

"Jake," Anne corrected automatically. She didn't get it. The more she tried to correct me, the more I was purposefully going to get it wrong. She also moved aside to allow him to sit besides her. We were getting a few glares from our fellow Gryffindors now, all upset that there were now two Slytherins seated at our table. Surprisingly enough no one tried to do anything about it though.

My eyes scanned the list to look for today's duty. "Oh goody," I muttered, "Last period of the day. They really love us, don't they?" It still felt a little weird referring to Malfoy and myself as 'us'. It was going to take some time to get use to it. "Speaking of which, what exactly are we suppose to do during those periods?"

"Patrol the halls and check no one who's not suppose to be is out of class. Waste of bloody time if you ask me." Malfoy replied unhappily. I was wondering whether any of the prefects were happy with the new duties when he suddenly let out a curse and squeezed himself out of the bench and under the table, grasping onto my legs to keep his balance as he hunched down. A few seconds later Kate came into view, clearly marching over to our table. Her eyes scanned over the table, taking in Jake and the timetable I had just finished copying before they settled on me.

"Rose, I see Scorpius has already given you you're new timetable. Please make sure you're on time for your duties. And if you see Scorpius please inform him I have some urgent matters to discuss with him." She looked like she was about to leave when one hand shot out and, grasping him by the collar, yanked Jake to his feet. "Back to your own table, Smith. You can visit your girlfriend later," With that she swung around and marched out the hall. When she was finally out of sight I reached down and patted one of Malfoy's arms.

"The coast is clear."

He came up cautiously, making sure for himself before plopping back in his seat. "Thanks Weasley, that is one person I have no desire to have a discussion with."

"Your not the only one. Sad as it may sound but after these duties she may be challenging your place on my list of people I hate most."

He grinned down at me. "But I'm still number one and that's all that counts."

I rolled my eyes. "Your the only person I know who's proud to be the person I hate most."

"That's because I'm number one on your list Weasley," he teased.

I ignored his comment. "Sure, whatever. Why are you so afraid of her anyway?" I wasn't even realizing we were having a decent conversation, no arguing, no yelling, no threats. He must not have realized it either because he answered my question.

"Will you be willing to believe she can't take no for an answer? No matter how many times I tell her I'm not interested, she just keeps coming back."

"You know, I do actually find it hard to believe, no offense. But you have dated most of the older half of the school's female population so it's difficult to believe you refused Kate," Especially cause she was so pretty.

"I haven't dated you," he countered.

"True, but I'm your mortal enemy." My words seem to almost bring us back to what was truly going on at that moment. For the first time I realized how unusual the whole situation was. We were acting like normal people having a normal conversation, and yet my relationship with him was anything but normal. He seemed to sense that the nice little truce we had once more called was being stretched to its limit because he reached out and took his timetable, folding it back into a tiny triangle. We had often called truces, normally when the fighting got so bad it was on the edge of dangerous, but never before had it gone this far. Today was different... in a nice way. I wondered what would have happened had Malfoy never confronted me on the train that day. Would be have been friends instead of mortal enemies? It was a question that could never be answered.

"Well, its been nice chatting with you Weasley, but it's time to go." His smile turned mischievous and before I realized what he was doing he swiped my last piece of bacon. "See you later," I frowned at his back, wondering if he knew just how right he was. He wasn't getting rid of me all week, Al's little bet made sure of that. I turned back to breakfast, finding Anne still staring at me.

"What?"

She shook her head sadly. "Darl, I'm sorry to say this but the two of you are as blind as bats,"

I stared at her in confusion. "What's that suppose to mean?" Had one of the professors been looking at us disapprovingly? Was I going to get into trouble? If I was going down so was Malfoy, he'd been the one who had come to my table in the first place. But Anne just shook her head.

"No, I'm not pointing it out, you'll just deny it. But I must say, I can't wait till next time this year. Something tells me it'll be exactly where I imagine it'll be." And with that she grabbed her bag and slipped from her seat, leaving me to sit there with a confused look on my face.

* * *

I caught up with Anne two minutes before our first class. She was standing to one side, deep in conversation with Jake. Eager to drill her for information, I still had no idea what she was talking about in the great hall, I half jogged forward. In typical Rose fashion my foot slipped halfway there, causing me to fall backwards.

"Oh no you don't," I didn't even have to turn to know who had caught me.

"You know, you're a terrible arch nemesis. You should be standing there laughing at me not playing hero." I tried to make my voice sarcastic but for once I wasn't in the mood. Shocker I know.

"Okay, if you insist," I felt myself gently being lowered until I was sitting on my butt in the middle of the hallway floor. Malfoy stepped over until he was standing in front of me. "Hahaha," his voice was very dry and fake, "How's that?"

I felt my lips twitch into a smile on their own accord. "Terrible, but don't worry, we'll make a super villain of you yet." I held both hands out and without the need of persuasion he took them and pulled me to my feet.

"Why do I have to be the villain?"

I raised one eyebrow at him then pointed to myself. "Because this body will look a heck of a lot better in tights,"

He laughed at the words, the unexpected sound attracting the attention of the people around us. I was sad to realize this was one of the rare time he actually laughed. Usually the only laughter I heard from him was whehe was mocking me and now was the first time I truly saw him laugh. Apparently I wasn't the only one because people were really staring at us now. Oh crap, we were the two known for our legendary spats and here we were having yet another decent conversation. Jake was right, the world was going to end. "Quick," I whispered under my breath, "Insult me before we cause everyone to panic,"

Malfoy caught my drift and forced his face into a mean scowl. "Piece of advice Weasley, next time you go sliding across the floor aim for the window. It'll have much more pleasing results for the rest of us."

For once I had to really force my sarcasm button to work. "Why thanks, but maybe you should give us a demonstration, maybe test the most lethal place to land. I'm sure your research will be ever so useful come NEWTS."

"And here I thought you were always ready for a test. Getting desperate?"

"Only to get rid of you,"

"Yes, because I'm such a git..."

"Couldn't have said it better myself,"

"Says the know it all,"

"Pig,"

"Daddy's little girl,"

"Idi..."

The door slammed open and a stream of students came rushing out. My year mates b-lined for the door, eager to get away from our 'spat'. If only they'd looked a little closer and noticed the small smiles we were both hiding. For once the little spat was funny. It was what normally transpired but this time I honestly realized how stupid our fights truly were. No wonder Anne normally had to force herself not to laugh. Shaking my head I headed towards Anne. Now all I had to do to comply with Al's little bet was to sit next to Malfoy. This proved to be harder than I though because Anne pushed me through the door in front of her and towards the closest empty row of chairs. I opened my mouth to mention Al's little bet but the look in her eye stopped me.

"Couldn't you two get along a little longer?" She hissed in an annoyed voice.

"Anne, we weren't fighting..."

"No, you were just having a loud conversation. Sit and I don't want any complaints from you." She forced me into the second last chair in the row and plopped herself down next to me. Jake followed seconds later, taking the seat next to her. Malfoy, however, was nowhere in sigh. Where was the slimy little git now? Someone slid into the seat beside me and my question was answered. He didn't look at all annoyed by the fact that he was sitting next to his self-proclaimed arch nemesis, looking as relaxed as if he was doing something completely normal. He grinned at my surprised expression.

"You're my shield Weasley," he nodded his head in the direction of Anne and Jake. "I really don't want to see them making goo-goo eyes at each other the whole period."

"And I have to?"

"You're a girl. You lot all love that romantic nonsense."

"Thanks for your respectful words for my gender," I muttered dryly.

"You're welcome."

I rolled my eyes and instead turned my attention to Professor Hawke who was now finally starting today's lesson. Her eyes did a quick sweep of the room, doubling back when she noticed where I was sitting. She opened her mouth, probably to ask me if I realized who I was sitting next to, but quickly closed it again. I guess as long as we didn't start arguing again or throwing things at each other she was okay with it. Strange how right Al had been. I'd never before noticed that our ongoing battle was so well known. Darn, and I'd always wanted to be the good girl who never got in trouble. Guess there goes that plan. I wonder if I could turn into a bad girl instead. Yeah, cause my red hair definitely screamed punk rock girl. It wasn't fair that Malfoy got to look like a real bad boy while I looked more like a leprechaun.

"Alright guys, as I warned you yesterday we have some group work today. So please turn to the person next to you and say hi to your partner for the next week."

Of course the person next to me was Malfoy, which meant Al lost the bet. I leaned forward to get a good look of the shocked expression on his face, then pretended to laugh at him. He scowled in return before turning to his own partner, one of the girls who played Quidditch with him. Malfoy watched the exchange with interest, his eyes questioning. I debated for a second whether or not I should tell him, and decided what the heck.

"A small bet that me and Al had. I told him I never lost,"

He simply shook his head in response and pretended to be interested in what Professor Hawke was saying. I'd already heard the entire speech the day before and had no intention to hear it again, so instead I pulled out my diary and studied the free periods I had now lost. I preferred knowing my schedule by heart just in case. My bag was usually so full nowadays that sometimes there wasn't even space for the tiny book. It was going to get worse now that I wouldn't have the time to go swap my books in those free periods. Maybe it was time I invested in a bigger bag.

"Alright guys, that's your task for the next week. Off you go. But remember, you've been given this period off to work, there's no excuses if you don't hand in your assignments on Friday." With that the room disrupted into chaos as people jumped up and fled the room. Anne was talking to Jake in an exited voice while Al walked over looking glum.

"It's not fair." He muttered standing in front of me.

"Too bad. It may not be pretty but a win is a win Albus Severus Potter." I was feeling pretty smug with myself.

"Fine. What do I have to do?" His voice couldn't get any more sour. Oh I was enjoying this.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it, I'll think of something, I promise." I waved him off enthusiastically as he sulked away.

"Glad to see I'm not the only one who gets attacked by your sarcastic side." Malfoy voice was once more teasing.

I turned to him, my own smile sly. "Why not, it's free and oh so rewarding. I offer everyone a bit so they don't feel left out. Except you of course, you don't get a little, you get a lot."

Malfoy shook his head. "Why am I not surprised. Anyway, back to important matters. What are we going to do about the project?"

I felt my cheeks turn bright red. "Oh, uh, about that. I – eh – I may have already started on that."

"What do you mean started?"

"Okay, I may have done a bit more than started."

"How far exactly are you?"

I smiled sheepishly. "Almost done,"

He looked down at me, half surprised, half impressed. "Once more, why am I not surprised? Well, who am I to complain? Let's go finish it so we don't have to worry for the rest of the week."

It was my turn to be surprised. "You're not going to demand we do equal work?"

His smile could only be called roguish. "Course not. I'm a lazy git remember?" And with that he pulled me out of my chair.

* * *

The rest of the day went weirdly fast and smooth. Despite the fact that I had already won my bet against Al I still found myself seated next to Malfoy in all the classes we had together. I blamed Anne who was still hanging onto Jake for dear life. I was actually going to be sad when their relationship ended because for once Malfoy and I got along splendidly. I almost hoped it wasn't just another truce and that we would actually learn to get along but somehow I knew a fight in the future was unavoidable. We just couldn't survive without biting each other's heads off and it was only a matter of time before we did. For now I was simply going to enjoy the peace and quiet. Now if only I could get Anne to stop snogging like a love obsessed tween. It was, for lack of a better word, disgusting.

"How would you feel if I kept doing that in front of you?" I snapped at her during potions.

She had leaned over to look at Malfoy behind me and grinned. "Good luck with that," Naturally I had turned blood red with embarrassment and quickly hidden my face in a book while busying myself with my potion. Why the mere though of making out with Malfoy made me blush I had no idea, but even I couldn't fool myself into believing it was out of disgust.

_Don't even think about it Rose_, I told myself as I desperately stirred the potion. Who knew that was exactly what it needed because once more my potion was the best in the class. It wasn't always that bad being accident-prone.

* * *

When the bell rang for my last class I automatically relaxed. What a day! I was halfway back to the dormitory when I remembered I still had a duty. To say I sprinted like an Olympic athlete may be a bit of an overstatement, but by the time I reached the hallway we were to patrol I was completely out of breath and sounded like someone having an asthma attack. Malfoy was yet to arrive, thank goodness, giving me time to lean back against the wall and try – unsuccessfully – to regain my breath. Who'd have ever thought I'd be happy that Malfoy was late for duty? I was still breathing harder than usual when I heard two voices approaching.

"But why not?" a girl's voice cried. A girl's voice that sounded suspiciously like Kate's.

"Kate, can't you just take no for an answer?" the angry voice that followed was definitely Malfoy's. I pushed myself from the wall just as Malfoy and Kate rounded the corner. Malfoy didn't only sound mad, he looked pretty much like he wanted to kill someone too. I saw him take in a breath of relief as he spotted me and he b-lined over to me. Kate however wasn't going to be shaken that easily.

"No, I don't! Answer me Scorpius," She was hanging onto his arm now, clearly trying to restrain him.

"I can't go to Hogsmeade with you," he ground out, "because I'm already going with someone else," Wow, I had never realized I knew Malfoy that well but I could clearly tell that he was lying. Or maybe he wasn't trying that hard because Kate wasn't accepting his answer either.

"Oh, really? With who?"

His eyes flashed up and the same desperate look that had filled his eyes last night was there once more, pleading with me as he look me straight in the eyes and said, "With Rose,"

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed it and don't think the story is progressing to weirdly. Don't worry, there is tons and tons of fighting ahead. The fight between those two won't be resolved that easily!**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	5. 4: Unexpected Plans

**I'm fully aware this chapter is waaaayyy overdue. The fact that I was able to finish it is already a miracle in itself. I'm so sorry for the wait but I'm in no way kidding when I'm saying I have absolutely no time nowadays. When I'm not studying I'm sleeping and even that is getting rarer by the day (sleep not studying). I will desperately try to get a new chapter up in the next 2 weeks but I can't promise anything.**

**As always, my utmost thanks to the people that make writing stories worth it: the reviewers****! ****Dramione-Fan 17****, ****Firemaker****, ****Aria657****, ****AndyPox****, ****LovelyLisa03****, ****kittyatza****, ****Loslote****, ****imsuchanut****, ****RealGirlsHaveCurves****, ****m0rganosity****, LazyinPaisely, 206thbone, ****theycallherkaush**** and ****Tanny Apple****. I hope all of you know you are really awesome!**

* * *

Chapter 4

Unexpected Plans

There were a million reactions I could have had. I could have laughed like a loon, said "Yeah right," and marched in the opposite direction. I could have fled without saying anything too but, really, when have I ever been able to keep my yap shut? I could also simply have done the laughing like a loon part without saying anything. Sooner or later they would have gotten my drift I'm sure. There were so many things I could have done to show Malfoy just how stupid his words were and that I, Rose Weasley, wasn't presently, nor would I ever be, desperate enough to do that. What did I do instead? I simply stood there, eyes wide open, mouth parted slightly, staring at Malfoy in shock, completely and utterly silent.

Huh, I guess there's a first time for everything. Real smooth Rosie, no wonder ever male within a five mile radius was flocking away from you.

Fortunately Kate was too busy having the exact same reaction to notice my shock. I mean, one look at my face would have made his lie fall flatter than a pancake. Maybe I should have warned him that I pretty much sucked big time as an actress when I was under pressure, but then again he had never asked my permission to use me in this little lie in the first place. Shock was slowly turning to anger and outrage. I was a Weasley after all, it didn't take much to get my feathers ruffled.

With some effort I forced myself to look like this little piece of information was nothing new to me and that in fact I was pretty happy about it. Considering how bad my acting was at times like these – not that I've ever been in a situation like this but you know what I mean – I probably looked more like I was in pain.

"Rose?" Kate spit out angrily. This, I realized somewhat astonished, was the first time that Malfoy had actually referred to me by my first name. We usually stuck to surnames specifically to show how much we disliked one another. "But why would you go with her? She's ugly and a Weasley! Aren't you two supposed to be mortal enemies?"

She had a point. We had never exactly made it a secret that we couldn't really stand each other and most people knew it was best to flee when we were in the same room. Believing that we were ready to bury the hatched would take some convincing. Especially since, eying Malfoy's head, I knew exactly where I would've preferred to bury that hatched.

If Kate thought her insult was going to get me to spill anything she was in for a nasty surprise. After more than five years of constant arguing with Malfoy I was pretty much immune to most insults – except his for some reason. He always managed to find something else to mock me about, and try as I might to become completely immune to his words they still managed to break through my defenses from time to time. Then again, I managed to return the favor just as often. Filled with smugness at this thought I barely noticed Malfoy yanking his arm from out of Kate's grasp before making his way towards me until he suddenly slipped a hand around my waist and pulled me against him. Caught by surprise I went without much resistance and found myself closer to the big headed, bad mannered, overconfident jerk than I had ever hoped to be.

"Well, Kate," he looked down at me, his eyes and smile full of flirtation. Dear word, no wonder every single girl in the castle fancied themselves in love with him. It was only the fact that my mind kept screaming "It's Malfoy you dolt!" that kept me from turning into one of those fluttering females who squealed and fainted at the sight of a male. No wait, who am I kidding, I'd never be like that. I wasn't a damsel in distress, me and my sarcasm took care of myself. "Love and hate is such a close emotion, isn't it?" He continued both his eyes and voice mischievous. What game was he playing at? Did he honestly think I was going to let any of this slide without aiming for his jaw. Normally I wasn't what anyone would call a violent person but Malfoy was making me one and I didn't really mind. Hitting him seemed like a really good idea at the moment. Yet I still felt sympathy towards him. Mental, I know, I was going wholly mental. Unfortunately – or fortunately in Malfoy's case – my mental side was dominating this fight. I wasn't going to reveal his lie – yet. As soon as Kate was out of sight however I was going to give him a nice big piece of my mind. This was one unhappy Weasley.

I felt a heck of a lot better when I saw Kate's mouth snap open and close like a fish out of water. Then his words sunk in and I had to fight the urge to mimic her movement. Love and hate? The hate part was true, it had been true since that day in the train so long ago. But love? She wasn't going to buy that, no one was. Malfoy went through girls like I went through tissues when watching a sappy love story. He didn't love anyone but himself and had always made it clear.

He must be pretty desperate to get Kate off his back, I thought as I tried to look at him from the corner of my eye. I was not going to make eye contact, uh uh, cause that soppy eyed look he was giving me was far too convincing. It was better to stare at Kate, no, the floor cause Kate would soon start glaring at me. I gave her five, four, three, two...

Ah, there it was. Cold as the North Pole.

"Oh please Scorpius, who're you trying to kid?" See, I told you she wasn't going to buy it. "Why don't you just stop this little game and agree to come with me already? I promise it'll be a lot more fun than anything Weasel here can think up. I mean really, what's she going to do all day, tell you how to fail at being a girl?" Her tone went way beyond snotty. She was definitely rubbing me the wrong way. Kate wanted this to get dirty, well then, say hi to the bitchier Rose, still with a hundred percent sarcasm but with added bitchiness. "Weasel may be fun to tease but for a date you need someone like me. Someone who you can look at without feeling the need to barf." Uh, she knew I was standing right there, right? She wasn't done. "It's nice of you to try and lift her low self-esteem but..."

Okay, that did it. There was no way I was going to stand there and let Queen B attack me without fighting back. Only problem was she was head-girl which meant if I told her what I was dying to at the moment she could get my ass into a cauldron full of trouble. So I was going to have to do the one thing that wouldn't get me into trouble while simultaneously sending her running into the hills. Had I been a little less angry I may have noticed that my brilliant plan had a few major flaws. I wasn't seeing them at the moment though, too angry with Kate and determined to show her no one messed with Rose Weasel – I mean Weasley!

Ignoring the wild insults being thrown my way I twisted sideways, grabbed the collar of Malfoy's robes, yanked his head down and, before I could convince myself otherwise, kissed him on the lips. I knew instantly it had been a bad idea, especially since after getting over the initial shock Malfoy, instead of pushing me away as I'd half expected, kissed me back. But worst of all, it was kind of, sort of, almost nice...

I yanked my head back just as Kate let out a loud howl of rage, spun on her pointy little heels and marched away from us. Well, at least she seemed convinced now. Part of me wanted to scream "Who needs a self-esteem boost now?" but I was too busy trying to avoid eye contact with Malfoy to go that far. Instead I tried to get as much distance between the two of us by speed-walking in the opposite direction. What had possessed me? It was the guy I hated most after all, for goodness sake, and I for one didn't plan on forgiving him for that day anytime soon. It was his own fault so he'd just have to live with it. Merlin, how had I ended up throwing myself at him. Not cool Rose, not cool.

"Rose, wait!" I was already halfway down the hall when he caught up with me. I was a speedy little critter when the need came but had drawn the line at running, something Malfoy obviously didn't mind doing. He clasped onto one of my arms when he realized I wasn't going to stop otherwise and kept me firmly in place as he spun me to face him. "Please Rose, just let me explain..."

"Explain? Explain what Scorpius? Why you think I'd be happy to be included in your little scheme without asking me first? Or why you'd use me in such a plan in the first place? Come on, you know the two of us aren't exactly friends, yet you chose me as the perfect little cover-up date. I don't appreciate be used or attacked and you know that!"

"Well," he held his free hand up defensively, "technically you were the one who attacked me..." Scowling fiercely I ripped myself out of his grasp and tried to charge off again. "Rose, no, wait!" This time he carefully placed himself in front of me and gripped onto both of my shoulders. "I'm sorry, now's not a good time to try and be funny. I'm sorry that I dragged you into this, but honestly Rose I had no other choice. You know Kate, and for heaven's sake I know you can't stand her either so you can't be too unhappy about offending her. She's been on a mission lately, and the objective of that mission is me. I don't know why but she suddenly decided that I should be her new boyfriend. Sufficient to say I'd rather drown myself in the lake. She's been throwing hints like mad and I've made it pretty clear I'm not interested, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. When she cornered me today I knew she wasn't going to escape without a good excuse and then I saw you and this crazy idea hit me. She couldn't get me if I was already taken, right, and before I could convince myself otherwise I told her it was you. Please don't be mad, I really don't want to ruin our new friendship-thingy..."

"Friendship-thingy?" I asked half shocked half amused.

He frowned when he realized how silly that sounded. "Whatever this truce is called. It's nice not fighting for once Rose and I'd like to keep it that way for as long as I can." He looked perfectly serious too, which was sort of weird. I mean, I'd always assumed that he was as wholeheartedly into this fight as I was, but now doubt was creeping in. Had he wanted to end this ages ago? I didn't really care. He'd been the one who had started it all after all, and I for one wasn't so sure I was ready to forgive him yet. "Please Rose. All I need is a few days. If you decided after Saturday that you still can't stand the sight of me you can go straight back to hating me. All I ask is that you give me a chance to show I'm no that bad."

Oh no, my mental side was kicking in again and his sincere puppy-like expression wasn't making it any easier. Don't look him in the eye, Rose, just walk away. Of course it was way too late by then. Plus, his idea had its merits. I hadn't really given him the chance to say sorry after that day, in actual fact I never dreamed he would try to do so, and this may just be the perfect opportunity to prove himself...

No, it was a stupid, useless idea that would serve no purpose but to make everything a hundred times worse and me a thousand times angrier. I would never agree. Never ever in a million years...

I lifted my head and opened my mouth to give him my final answer... and was once more deceived by his sincere expression. Damn.

"Fine, I'll do it." Wait, what had I just said? Dear word, had I just agreed with his stupid little plan? No no no no no no no!

"You will?" his mouth turned upwards in an ecstatic grin. "That's great!" Before I could tell him I was only having a irrational moment and hadn't meant a word he pulled me into a tight hug. "Thanks Rose, I promise you won't regret it."

I already was. But he was so happy, how could I ruin it all now. Wait, there was something I could do. Pulling myself out of his arms I forced myself to look threatening. Although judging from his curious look I wasn't all that threatening.

"Before you jump on the bandwagon, there's a few rules that need to be made crystal clear first. Number one," I added emphasis by poking him in the chest. "This is a fake date and I will appreciate it if you remember that. If I hear you say something silly like that I was unable to resist your charm I'll hex you faster than you can say Weasley. Secondly," I poked him again. "You are very very lucky to get this chance. Don't blow it, okay?" I poked him again just because I could.

Malfoy nodded. "Alright, I can agree with those terms. But I have one to add myself." I raised an eyebrow in annoyance but nodded for him to continue. "I'll stick to your terms as long as you keep this deal between the two of us. No one can know but the two of us, otherwise Kate will sniff it out faster than you can say gotcha."

Well, I guess I saw the point of that. "Even Anne and Al?"

"Especially Anne and Al." His grinned mischievously. "And Jack too."

I failed miserably to hide a smile. "Glad to see I'm getting through to you two. Anne accidentally called him Jack at lunch. Ah, if looks could kill."

"Oh, so that's why he's been in such a mad mood today."

Swallowing my stubborn pride I stuck out one hand. "Okay Malfoy, you've got a deal."

"Scorpius," he corrected as he took my hand and shook.

"Oh, is that my name?" I teased before rolling my eyes. "Fine. You have a deal _Scorpius_."

"Thanks Rose." He was still holding my hand, smiling down at me like he knew something I didn't. I'd never noticed just how stormy his gray eyes were. But now it was like I couldn't look away. It was mesmerizing, like somehow it sucking away my will to tear my eyes from him. A loud bang from overhead finally snapped the connection and as Peeves swooped down in an air assault I swore I was going to keep as far away from Scorpius Malfoy as humanly possible. Too bad I had already sold my soul in our little deal.

* * *

When I entered the common room almost an hour later I wanted nothing more than to go relax on my bed and think this whole confusing day through. Unfortunately Anne hadn't received that memo yet. She was standing right in front of the portrait hall, obviously waiting for me, her eyes narrowed in suspicious slits and her arms crossed across her chest. Oh boy, this wasn't going to be solved in a hurry. She didn't even let me get very far, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me back in the direction I'd come from. We didn't go very far. The second she found an empty corridor she ground to a halt and turned flashing eyes on me.

"Don't even pretend to be clueless Rose," Her tone was as stern as Mother's when she was angry. "I saw Kate crying when I went to the loo earlier, convinced her life was over because Scorpius Malfoy was dating you instead of her. The last time I saw you you were still deciding whether or not you hated him. So I'm only going to ask this once. What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On?"

I swallowed hard, wishing desperately I could tell her the truth. If only Malfoy hadn't made that stupid condition I would have easily told her I still wanted to kick the little rat's ass, but a deal was a deal, even if it'd been made with the devil.

"I... I guess we finally made peace," Lie, lie, lie. Come on Anne, you can hear that's total hogwash!

She raised one eyebrow – in surprise, not suspicion. Then said in a really excited voice, "Really?" Darn, she was already convinced. No, how could she be fooled so easily? It couldn't be, it just couldn't! Wasn't she supposed to be my best friend? Surely she knew the two of us couldn't make peace that easily. We'd hated each other for years and she thought it would suddenly, poof, be fixed? But, watching her glowing smile, I realized she did think so. Or maybe she just really wanted it to be true. Malfoy and I had been fighting for over five years after all. I suddenly felt guilty for all the times I had forced her to listen to my little 'I hate Malfoy' speeches.

Then again, she forced me to watch her snog the face off a new guy every month. Karma, she is a bitch.

"So?" Anne looked at me, her eyes filled with curiosity. Too bad I was completely clueless of what she meant. Anne was a little hard to follow sometimes, especially when she went on and on and on about clothes and shoes and other really girly things. Girly girl 101 was something I had failed with distinction.

"So what?"

Anne giggled. "So how was it? Snogging the guy you claim to hate most in the world? Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. Kate made it pretty clear that you two couldn't keep your hands off each other."

Okay, that was definitely one gigantic fib. Scorpius had been the one that had pulled me towards him and Kate had so asked for the kiss. That kiss which had really not been that bad... in fact it had been really... no no no no no Rose, you are not going to think about that. Keep focus on… I really didn't like Anne smile. It was like she was bursting to break out in song and dance. Why had I never noticed my friend was so truly clueless of how my evil and twisted brain worked? "Well?"

I took a deep breath to buy some time. Okay, denial wasn't going to get me anywhere – damn Kate and her drama queen tendencies – and I had sort of told Scorpius this 'little plan' was staying between the two of us. How I hated him right now. And I was going to hate him even more after this little conversation. Anne was my best friend but she was also one of the school's biggest gossips. If she knew bout my 'relationship' with Malfoy, it was pretty much guaranteed that the rest of the school would know by tomorrow afternoon. Life was taking an unnecessarily cruel turn.

"It was okay I guess," Great, this was the lie she picked up. What kind of best friend was she?

"Eeeekkkkk!" No, I'm not kidding, that was pretty much the equivalent of what I understood of her response. The rest was more squealing, some inaudible exited chatter, then some more squealing. Did even she know what she was saying? "I'm so happy Rosie," No kidding, I would never have guessed, "How did it happen? Was it sudden or have you been lying about hating him for a while?"

She looked so happy that I was hit with a sudden dose of regret. This wasn't her fault. She was just being a good friend – an excellent one actually – and really showing some happiness at my 'good fortune'. After all, she had been trying to score me a date since fourth year and here I went and finally found someone desperate – I mean good enough to date me. Even if it was all one huge colossal lie. And Malfoy…

"It just sort of happened." Well, that much was true. I certainly hadn't meant for any of this to happen. If only I hadn't felt sorry for that little rat or felt the need to beat Kate at her little game. I, Rose Weasley, had doomed myself.

"Oh I'm just so happy!" Anne pulled me into a bone crushing hug. "This is going to be so perfect Rose, just you wait and see."

If only I could agree with her.

* * *

I made sure to avoid Al for the rest of the day – which taking his Quidditch into account wasn't really that hard – by busying myself with all the tons of homework that wasn't really due for the next month or two. Why was it that when you wanted work to take long it went super quickly. And worrying always gave me one hell of a huge headache! I was looking for other ways to distract me when Al entered the room, covered in mud and looking windswept. He sent a knowing little smile in my direction, winked and strode up to his room. I knew my mouth was hanging open. Did no one find the sudden change of events even a little bit suspicious? Was I surrounded by idiots?

When the first years beside me started a huge argument over which Quidditch team were the best I lost patience with Gryffindors in general and left the room in a huff, dragging my already done homework with me to the library. It was only when I parked myself down in a chair and pulled out my books that I realized what was truly bothering me. Maybe I was misunderstanding everything. Maybe I'd unconsciously been indicating for a while that I was going to forgive Scorpius for that day and the rest had pick up on it but I hadn't realized it myself. Had I been hiding behind sarcasm for too long? I closed my tired eyes and rubbed them gently to try and get rid of my rapidly growing headache when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Long day?"

I was use to arguments, use to sarcastic quips, to rude comments, but a soft sympathetic tone was definitely in uncharted territory. I opened my eyes to see his expression matched his tone. I could have snapped and told him to sod off, that he was the cause of that long day, but I already had a big enough headache without using my last bit of energy to bite his head off.

"You could say that," You could also say it had had more twists and turns that the rollercoaster ride at Disney World and that I was dreading when and where the next turn would show up. Scorpius pulled out the chair next to me and sat down next to me.

"And I hadn't exactly made it better, had I?" Strange, he actually sounded sorry. I was going to have to make a list of firsts this week. First decent conversation, first time I saw sympathy, first time he took the blame for anything, first kiss…

I felt my face turn a bright shade of red at the though and I knew he saw it too. Especially since his grin turned mischievous.

"Now now now, what I wouldn't give to hear that though," he murmured looking me straight in the eye.

"You're supposed to be sympathetic," I reminded him pointedly.

"Maybe, but face it Rose, it's a heck of a lot more fun to tease you instead. Do you really have a ton of patience for someone who sprouts tons of fake flowery words?"

"Probably not," Wow, I didn't think it was humanly possible but I was definitely feeling worse. Maybe doing all that work hadn't been that wonderful idea.

"Rose?" Teasing was now replaced by concern. If I looked as bad as I felt I fully understood.

"Headache. Very very big headache." I muttered in response. Moaning softly at the shooting pain I dropped my head onto his shoulder in an attempt to relieve the pain. It was something I often did with Al and I didn't even really think about doing it this time. I was feeling way too comfortable around Malfoy today. The problem was it was just so easy to let my mind go blank. I had always been so busy hating and annoying him that I had never even dreamed about letting myself relax around him. And now that I did I was discovering that it was just so easy. Dangerously so. It was comfortable and peaceful there and as long as I stopped constantly reminding myself that this was the pig Malfoy who'd been torturing me since first year it would stay that way. Dad was so right, the Malfoys were toxic to our health.

Too bad that at that moment I didn't care.

And neither did he. He just sat there and let me use him as a human pillow, resting his cool cheek against my warm forehead and allowing me my much needed minutes of silence. I don't know how long we sat there in comfortable silence but I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew Anne was whispering something to Scorpius and, despite the curious need I had to hear what she was saying, my eyes refused to open. My mind noted that he answered but once more the exact words were a mystery. I was going to force myself to wake up now, even if I really really really didn't want to.

They did finally snap open when I felt myself being lifted into a pair of strong arms. It seemed that all that Quidditch was actually good for something. Either he didn't notice that I had snapped awake or he didn't care because he fitted me into a comfortable position in his arms and carried me out of the library like a true damsel in distress. On any other day I would have happily murdered him for daring to try a trick like that but at that moment in time I was simply too tired. Over his shoulder I saw Anne follow with my books in hand and a tiny smile on her lips. She was enjoying this whole adventure way too much. I made a mental reminder to get her back tomorrow. Then I rested my head in Scorpius' shoulder and was blissfully asleep for the rest of the journey.

"Rose, time to wake up. This is as far as I can go. Rosie?"

Regretfully I peeled open my eyes. We were standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. The ecstatic look on her face said the portraits were going to have a huge gossip session that night and I was the topic of choice. I was a little unsteady as he placed me back on the floor but I knew I'd had enough weird experiences for one night. At least I though I had until Anne cleared her throat and indicated her head at Scorpius.

Right, I was suppose to say thank you.

"Thanks Scorpius. I'm sorry for spacing out on you. I didn't realize just how tired I was."

"Don't worry about it Rose. What are arch nemeses for?"

I managed a weak smile at that. Some things were never going to change. I was content to call that a goodnight and go to bed had Anne not cleared her throat a second time, this time so loud even the Fat Lady was staring shamelessly.

"Is there an illness going around?" I asked pointedly.

"I think they're waiting for this." Scorpius murmured before surprising me by bending down and pressing a soft kiss on my lips. It was short and sweet, but no less toxic than the one we'd shared earlier. "Night Rosie." And with his signature grin he turned and disappeared down the stairs.

Both Anne and the Fat Lady were grinning from ear to ear as I turned back to them. Tomorrow I would go back to hating him but tonight I allowed myself a small smile in return before sleepily muttering the password and stalking off to bed.

* * *

**I'd really appreciate it if you guys let me know what your thoughts are. Is it taking an unnatural turn in events or are things still on track?**

**Have an awesome week (or two) and hopefully the next update will come soon. =)**


	6. 5: Enemies of Friends

**I know I always say that my chapters are dedicated to the reviewers, but this time this is so true. You guys push me by asking for updates and actually being happy when I do update. Thank you guys for making me think of new ideas and letting me escape from studying for a while. My exams start in 3 weeks so if you're lucky I might squeeze in another chapter before then.**

**So, the positions of honor: ****Lizzy0308****, ****Aria657****, ****TheInnerMusingsOfMe**** (hey, I'm not sure I'm going to cover Scorpius side. It's easier working with Rose cause I know what goes on in a girl's head but, as I've learned all these years by having a brother, guys differ so much that I may not be able to give a good representation. But who knows, maybe there will have to be a point where I'll have to explain something from his side), ****Dramione-Fan 17****, ****Tanny Apple****, ****RealGirlsHaveCurves**** and ****m0rganosity**** (Lol, you are super welcome my fellow procrastinator. When I avoid studying I suddenly become obsessed with cleaning things even though I'm a messy person by nature and don't normally care about a dirty room as long as I can see the floor – which is unfortunate because my roommate is a clean freak. Thus, no more excuses not to study!)**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Enemies of Friends**

Why is it always that when you desperately want to be sick your body suddenly becomes a germ fighting machine who'd keep you in tip top shape even if you went marching through Antarctica wearing nothing but a bikini, but when you didn't want to even have the sniffles you suddenly caught some rare never before heard of disease? Okay, maybe I was over reacting just a teeny bit, but then again, I'd never been very good at being ill. When I felt under the weather there were only two modes my mind accepted: sleepy and grumpy.

Scorpius had been lucky the night before and caught me in the well loved sleepy mode. As the name (hopefully) suggests it meant that I was quiet, easy to keep occupied and happy in general – as long as you let me sleep. Anne however was getting the more disliked option this morning. To compare my behavior to a bear with a sore paw was actually a pretty good way to go. After all, I was growling angrily and swiping at annoying people as they tried to get me out of bed. That 'these annoying people' was Anne didn't seem to make much of a difference. All I knew was that my head felt like someone was banging it with a stick and every time I moved the world spun like a tornado. Much like me, Anne didn't care.

"Come on Rose, today is an important day. There's no way I'm letting you play sick."

I glared at her through two unfocused eyes. Who was playing? And pray tell, what exactly made today so special? As far as I knew it was a normal boring Wednesday – oh, wait, I was the perfect little scholar in the family. Correction, it was a highly anticipated day which contained an overwhelmingly exiting amount of knowledge for me to enjoy. Like I said, it was just another boring Wednesday…

"Nooooo," Even my voice sounded off as I moaned in protest as Anne grabbed hold of my arm and desperately tried to yank me out of the warm covers.

"Rose, unless you're dying, you're getting out of this bed." Her tone was dead serious.

"What's so important about today Anne? If there's really a good reason to get up I'll do it, but honestly I don't know how far I can go. I really feel like death Annie." I didn't even need to pretend, I really did feel that bad.

Anne's face slipped a small frown of sympathy before turning back into a hard mask. "Well then you'll have to die trying. I heard from a very trusted source that Fiona is about to start the next round and I'm not getting out of this room unless you're with me Rose. You know it's only because she's so intimidated by you that I've been able to keep her in her place thus far."

If I didn't think it would make the pain thirty times worse I would have rolled my eyes. Ah, of course, Fiona Nel, Anne's version of me and Malfoy – or hopefully at least how we use to be. I had absolutely no idea where to classify us now. Anne and Fiona had always been arch rivals and things weren't looking like they would change soon. I suspected it had started because Fiona had been jealous of Anne from the start – how could you not envy someone with such great friends like me? Oh look, I could still use sarcasm! And although it was true that the two of them couldn't stand each other the rest of her words were utter hogwash. She didn't need me at her side. She'd always been able to handle Fiona's lies and accusations. I just always made it more fun because I liked to shove my sarcasm in the humorless brat's face.

"Anne, you really don't need me there…"

"I do Rose. You don't know what I'm like when you're not there. I get all shy and flustered and can't defend myself at all. It's like you're my shield and without you I just get thrown with rocks. Please? If you pass out I swear I'll make Jake and Scorpius carry you to the hospital wing."

"Can't you get Jack to do it? Or I can ask Scorp…" Her puppy dog pout came out. Okay, obviously it was me or nothing. Letting out a loud sigh I forced myself off the bed. As I'd though the second my feet hit the ground my entire world started spinning. Anne however looked so happy that I kept that information to myself. She didn't need to know I had discovered the wildest rollercoaster ride at Hogwarts. Grabbing the first clothes I could find I headed to the bathroom, desperately hoping a nice warm shower would make me feel better.

It made me feel worse.

Stay out of my way people, I mentally yelled as I stumbled down the stairs, grumpy mode has been switched into high gear. All interactions take place at your own risk.

I'm not entirely sure how I made it all the way to the bottom floor and to the great hall. All I remembered was Anne chattering away about some new trend her 'trusted informant', also known as Jessica Dunkin, the biggest gossip in school, had told her about and thinking 'just breath Rose, just breath'.

"Good lord Rose, are you okay?" At last, someone with eyes in their head. Al dropped his fork to feel my forehead as I dropped down beside him, testing the warmth of my head with the cool skin on the back of his hand. "You sure you don't want to rather go to the hospital wing?"

"I want to," I eyed the hordes of food in front of me and felt no response from my food deprived body. It didn't look tasty, just made me feel sick. "Believe me I really want to, but first this battle-worn general needs to head off to war."

Al frowned. "No Rose, I though you sorted out all your problems with Malfoy. I was just getting hopeful…"

"Not with Malfoy. Fiona,"

"Oh, right." His eyes swept across the hall to the Slytherin table. What was it with us and Slytherins anyway? It seemed all of us, even those of us who claimed to be perfect little students, were happy to start a fight with someone from that hated house. Anne had been the first person – well the first one who'd I'd heard of – that had actually dated her enemy in a while. And it seemed I was following her suit – faking a relationship of course. This was only so Kate could stay off our backs. Scorpius would never look at me like that anyway. Why was that thought so depressing? You hate him remember? Get a hold of yourself. He's the same Malfoy he's been all these years and won't change at the drop of a hat. Even if he had been a little sweet the last while…

"Would you like a hand?"

I blinked rapidly in surprise as Al's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Huh?"

Al gazed at me skeptically. "With Fiona? You said you were going to war and at the moment it looks like you're ready to stab yourself with your sword that her."

"I have a sword?"

"Well, your tongue is often sharp enough…"

Despite my headache I smacked Al on the head. Not too hard of course, I had to leave my cousin the few brain cells he had left. He didn't mind, he never did, it was sort of what made him such an awesome friend. Smiling I leaned against him, tucking my head into his crook of his neck just as I had with Scorpius last night and closed my eyes. Grumpy mode had been replaced by sleepy mode again.

"Rosie, you're burning up. Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the hospital wing?"

"Uh uh, Fiona's a creature of habit. She'll approach Anne before lunch so that her words can 'haunt' her for the rest of the day. I just need to survive until then. I'll be okay. I've got you to fuss over me, don't I?"

"And don't forget Malfoy,"

"Huh?"

"Look over at the Slytherin table."

Reluctantly I forced my eyes open and lifted my head slightly so I could scan the Slytherin table. It wasn't hard to spot him. He was sitting next to Jake who was chomping down his food like someone who hadn't eaten in days. Scorpius, however, wasn't touching his food. He was staring straight back at me, his mouth pulled in a worried frown. When he saw me looking back at him he dropped all pretence of wanting to eat and practically jumped out of chair before b-lining his way over. I was never going to understand this guy, I swear it. I dropped my head back onto Al's shoulder as I waited. Al wasn't even bothering to hide that little knowing smile. What exactly did that little smile mean anyway? I opened my mouth to ask him but before I could Scorpius skied to a stop behind me.

"What are you doing here? You should be in the hospital wing Rose."

"Hello to you too." Oh look, sarcasm was back.

"Come," he carefully took hold of my arm to help me out of my seat. "Hospital wing. Now." He frowned at Al as I resisted the pull. "Why didn't you take her when she sat down?"

That smile was getting really annoying. "Because she told me that exact thing she's going to tell you now." He gently shoved me in an upright position and got out of his seat. "Let her tell you. I still have some things to do before class."

I closed my eyes again, rubbing my aching head as I felt Scorpius take Al's old spot. I wasn't in a mood for arguing now. Truth be told I would have happily skipped to the hospital wing at that stage but Anne was my friend and held my back when I needed it. I was only fair that I did the same. But I was pretty sure Scorpius wasn't going to get that though.

"I'm waiting Rose,"

"I'm not in a mood for a fight Scorpius." And I wasn't. Grumpy mode had left and wasn't looking all that willing to return. Sleepy mode however enjoyed its new accommodations.

"Neither am I. All I want to know is why you won't let me help you?" I heard him shift and opened my eyes. His eyes were filled with what I was pretty sure was concern as he looked down at me. He wanted to help – I'd know that all along – and my reluctance to let him was confusing him. Wait, when the heck had I learned to read him that well?

"It's not that Scorpius." Bugger this, he wasn't Al but if my head didn't stop spinning right then I was going to fall face first on the table. Just like last night he didn't mind when I dropped my head on his shoulder and tucked it into the crook of his neck. Instead he wrapped on arm around me to keep me firmly in place. "I made a promise to Anne and I intend to keep it, even if it means I have to suffer a little."

"And how long exactly will this promise take to complete?"

"Until Fiona appears."

"Until Fio…" I both heard and felt him groan. Obviously he was aware of the rivalry. "Rose, why are you getting involved in this? This is Anne's battle, not yours. You have your own enemies to deal with."

"Yes," I agreed sleepily. "But while she's waiting for her's to attack I'm snuggling against mine's shoulder."

That got him to shut up. Finally, maybe now I could get some snooze time before the first class. Or maybe not.

"Why exactly are you so sure Fiona is going to try and do something today?"

He wasn't going to let this go so easily. "I'm not, but Anne is. Apparently she has a very highly informed source." I forced my head up. "Look Scorpius, we're trying this whole 'understanding each other instead of fighting' thing, so please try and see it from my prospective. For now try and bare with me and I promise you can take me to hospital wing later. If you make the next few hours difficult for me the normal Rose will happily bite your head off when I feel close to being normal again. Got that?"

He was silent for a few seconds, obviously making sure of his answer before he blurted something he'd regret later. "I want to disagree," he said unhappily, "but I know you're not making an empty threat." And I wasn't. I was more than willing to make his life super difficult if I found it necessary. I was considering burying the hatched, but like I'd said, I hadn't decided where I was going to bury it. "So fine, I'll cooperate for now." I smiled smugly. "On one condition,"

Smile, meet frown. "I didn't say you can add conditions," I warned.

"But I am. Rose…" his voice was a little threatening.

"What's the condition?" I wasn't afraid of his empty threat but neither was I going to go look for trouble where it was best left alone.

"If you look worse, even a teeny tiny bit, I'm putting this little mission of yours on a halt and taking you to the nurse. Even if I have to carry you kicking and screaming." His tone was pretty serious too and there was a glint of warning in his eyes that was definitely genuine. Decision time. To be agreeable or not to be agreeable, that was the question…

I could disagree and act the same I normally would – sarcastic and slightly grouchy – or I could swallow my pride. And if I was truly honest, if I felt even a tiny bit worse I was going to need him to carry me up the stairs.

"Fine," Wow, that came out a little grumpier than I had expected.

Scorpius' eyes narrowed slightly before he trusted out his arm. "I need you to swear on that Weasley. You see, I've learned that most gingers can be extremely sneaky."

Okay, glaring made my head feel worse. My mouth pulled in an annoyed pout I stuck out my hand for him to shake. "I'm not going to forget that."

He grinned. "I know. You never forget anything." His eyes looked past me before he added in a sour tone, "And you're never wrong either." I followed his gaze to Fiona who was now making her way out of the great hall. Her eyes were settled on Anne, her expression saying loud and clear that Anne's informant hadn't received the wrong information. I didn't even bother hiding my smug smile. Scorpius shook his head before extracted himself from me and pushed himself upwards. "Well, if I'm going to be babysitting you all day then I'd better go get my stuff."

"Scorpius wait," He paused, halfway over the bench already. "You know how much I hate admitting this, but thanks."

He blinked. "For what?"

Hadn't I just said I hated admitting that? "For… you know. Caring," the last part was said rapidly making the word almost inaudible but he still caught it.

Strangely enough he didn't instantly start boasting as I'd half expected. Instead he looked almost embarrassed at my words. "I didn't do anything special," he said gruffly.

I snorted. "You kidding? You did a heck of a lot more than my own family." Al had been nice this morning but it was like he'd been in a different world this entire week. He hadn't even bothered asking me what was going on between me and Malfoy.

A small smile crossed his lips. "You couldn't be more wrong. About Al," he added after seeing my confused look. What was this guy? Psychic? "There was a reason I came looking for you yesterday, but when I found you in the library you didn't look like you were in a mood for a discussion. He does care Rose. Yesterday at Quidditch practice he sought me out and was this close to starting a brawl to defend you from my 'advances'. He really should have lived in the 1800's. Anyway, I told him the truth."

My eyes widened. "He knows?"

"He knows. I guess when I explained it all to him it finally made sense."

"And he was okay with it?"

He shrugged. "As long as you're participating willingly he's chilled. But I've been given a list of things that I shouldn't even dream of doing. And he looked serious. Although I have to admit, that strange little smile he has every time I lay my eyes on him is really getting on my nerves."

"Join the club." I muttered. So the little rat knew all along. What game was he playing?

Scorpius sneaked a glance at Anne who was a few seats down deep in conversation. "She gave me a piece of her mind too after I carried you upstairs."

"You told her too?"

"Nope, I'm ashamed to admit I lied to her. It's better that way even if she did almost squeal my ears off."

"She does that a lot," I admitted.

Malfoy just shook his head. "See you in a sec," And with that he followed the group of people pushing and shoving out of the room. I watched him go, noting Kate following him out a few seconds later. That girl obviously wasn't getting the message. Luckily that was Scorpius' problem not mine. After all, I wasn't the one she was obsessively stalking. The dishes in front of me vanished and I didn't even feel a hint of regret at the thought of not eating one single bite. Food was the last thing that my stomach wanted at that moment. Anne and I had brought our bags with us so there was no reason to rush back upstairs again so instead we stayed at our seats as long as we could. Okay, the real reason was that Anne was so busy gossiping to notice that everyone had left, but I was still grateful. Sitting made the world spin a little less than walking and standing did. All good things had to come to an end however, and fifteen minutes before class we set off to the opposite side of the castle. On second thought, sitting made the world spin a **lot** less than standing and walking. Especially speed walking. Halfway there I already wanted to die. Curse Fiona and her terrible terrible timing!

"Isn't that my job?" With a tug my bags was pulled off my shoulder and onto Scorpius'. He didn't even bulk under the weight like most of the guys Anne asked to carry out bags did. Another point to Quidditch.

"You know, you don't have to do all these things for me. It's not like you're really half in love with me." Anne was far enough in front for me to talk freely as long as I didn't go shouting it at the top of my voice.

He just shrugged it off. "If you're going to do something, you may as well do it properly. Besides," he shuddered slightly, "Kate is keeping an eagle eye on me. I don't think she'll stop until I sit on my knees in front of her begging her to let me take her out."

"Ah, so you're sucking up. Well slave, I'm sure we can come to reasonable terms."

"I'm sure we can. For example, you get to clear your Friday afternoon."

"Friday?"

"Yeah, because of the Hogsmeade visit they moved the Quidditch match to Friday afternoon. Let's hope it's a short match cause I'm not really in a mood to take my flashlight with me." And here I thought I was the only one who had mastered sarcasm.

And I wasn't really in a mood to watch his chase a ball on his broomstick, but I didn't really have much of a choice. I was expected to pretend to be wowed about his 'amazing' achievements right? At least he wasn't playing Gryffindor so I could drag Al along. Anne would come too but she hated Quidditch with a fiery passion that tended to scare me.

"Kate will most likely be there,"

"You can stop using your persuasive tone Scorpius, it's not like I'll refuse to go. I have a role to play after all and it wouldn't look all that great if I didn't come support my wonderful boyfriend, now would it?"

"You can sound a little more enthusiastic you know," he muttered.

"Oh," I looked up sharply into his disappointed scowl. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I know it's important to you Scorpius. Al's just as obsessed. I guess it's more difficult for me because I'm completely useless at it."

"You're not useless…"

"I'm useless. I don't think your opponent is supposed to willingly flee in fright every times you come near them."

"Probably not. Although that could make the game a lot easier."

"Not if you have a tendency to be flying in the wrong direction and half of the time the person fleeing in fright is a teammate."

"There isn't a chance I can persuade you to try out for the Gryffindor team is there? We'd be a shoe in for the cup then."

"Not even if you bribe me with chocolate." I leaned slightly towards him and whispered, "And just in case you ever do something stupid, I adore any shape or form of chocolate except dark chocolate."

"Good to know. If you ever get mad chocolates and roses will get me in the all clear."

"How did you kn…:"

He grinned. "Anne mentioned it once. She thought it was really funny that your favorite flower was the same as your name. I think it's sort of cute."

"Fine. But red ones okay?." We stopped behind the rest of the class who were all still crowded outside the class. "You know Malfoy, I'm beginning to enjoy this. You really are an easy boyfriend to train."

The professor arrived and ushered the class inside just as Scorpius lowered his head and whispered in my ear, "That's what you think Rose," before winking and making his way inside the class.

* * *

Three hours later I had reached breaking point. Despite early indications, and the fact that Fiona had two classes with us already, there still hadn't been any form of confrontation. And Scorpius wasn't helping matters by acting like a mother hen and threatening to take me to the hospital wing every five minutes.

"No," I hissed as he opened his mouth yet again.

"Rose, this isn't funny anymore." He hissed right back. "You're sweating like you're in a sauna."

Well, we were in a greenhouse which wasn't exactly the coldest place at school. But I wasn't exactly supposed to be dying of heat – which of course I was. I glared across the room at Fiona, silently screaming _come on, come on, come on, come on!_ She didn't seem to hear me.

"I'm fine," I snapped at him instead.

"No, you're not. I'll bodyguard Anne if you wish. Please, just stop with this craziness."

"Malfoy, stop it. We had a deal…"

"And I won the deal an hour ago. Rose, not to sound like a jerk or anything, but you looked awful." Apparently I looked as bad as I felt. "This isn't the time to be playing stupid games…"

"Just one more hour, please," Now I was begging. Great Rose, just great.

He just looked more annoyed but, after giving me a good glare, finally gave in. "Fine, but only one more hour."

Murmuring a thanks I slipped over to Anne. "I have one more hour before Mount Malfoy explodes Anne,"

"You can't leave now,"

"Well the lesson's sort of over…"

"Don't try to be funny Rose. You know what I mean." Guilty as charged. "You made a promise and I don't care if he's your boyfriend, I'm your best friend."

"Look, I don't exactly have a choice. What do you want me to…"

"Well well well, what do we have here?" I nearly screamed in joy at the interruption. Fiona had arrived. I could almost hear Malfoy's sigh of relieve from across the room. "Don't tell me she's even getting on your nerve Weasley? You don't seem that good at keeping friends Maxwell."

"I'm touched at your concern Nel, but you can save it for someone who gives a damn."

"Which, by the way, isn't either of us," I whispered in a hinting tone. Fiona's lips curled back slightly in a snarl. I just couldn't resist. "What would Shrek say to that face? But I guess it does make you look like a real ogre." Of course since she's from Slytherin and therefore from a pure wizarding family the joke was lost on her. Just my luck.

"Can't you try and for once not try to ruin my life?" Anne challenged. "It hasn't worked thus far. What makes you think it will work now?"

Fiona's snarl turned into an ugly grin. "Oh, I don't have to do anything this time Maxwell. You see, you're ruining your own life. You two are already fighting, all because you were stupid enough to date a Slytherin. Did you honestly think Weasley would accept the best friend of her arch nemesis as your boyfriend? How long do you think it'll be before this little event tares you apart?"

Both Anne and I didn't know whether to laugh or … well stare at her like the fool she obviously was. It seemed she'd been so intent on keeping her attention on Anne that she hadn't noticed the shocking revelation that had taken place right under her nose. This was just too easy.

We went with option B.

"How long do you think before Weasley makes you choose? We both know she and Malfoy will never be able to stand each other so why even try."

I looked at Anne to see what she was thinking but her expression was as blank as mine. I knew what she was thinking. _Really? Can anyone be that stupid?_

Okay, it was time to take pity on her. May as well help her out of her misery. I opened my mouth to tell her just how far she was missing the plot when Scorpius came striding over.

"Wonderful, I get to watch the war first hand!" Fiona said gleefully. "Today is ending up being the best day ever!"

She smiled broadly and waited for the war of words to begin. But I knew it wasn't coming. I knew from the small smile on his lips that he'd heard everything and was for the first time prepared when he bent down to kiss me. Much as I hate to admit it, I really enjoyed it this time. Mostly because of the look of horror on Fiona's face when we broke apart. Scorpius wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against his side, both our bags wrapped around his other shoulder.

"You girls done?" His voice was calm and cheerful, not the voice of someone in the middle of a war. "We better leave or we'll be late." He nodded in Fiona's direction. "Nel," And with that he strode out with me at his side, Anne grabbing her bag and following us, fighting giggles the whole time. As soon as we were out of earshot he whispered "Hospital wing," in my ear.

I finally went willingly.

* * *

**As usual, I'd love to know what you guys think! Review and let me know. =D**


	7. 6: Fights and Friends

**A/N at the bottom.**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Fights and Friends**

"Wake up sleepy head," the voice was soft, whispered directly into my ear. It was sweet and gentle and annoying as hell to my sleep fogged mind. My hand automatically took a swipe in its general directing, trying to get it to disappear and let me return to dream land. I must have missed because a soft chuckle filled the room. "You're going to have to do better than that Rose. Come on, they're throwing you out so you'll have to resume your nap in your own bed."

Pff, like I was going to get up from the warm bed. Not likely. I turned around, showing my back to the voice and tried to drift off again. And I'd been having such a nice dream too!

Apparently the person trying to wake me was just as stubborn as I was because without warning strong arms reached down and in on smooth movement swept me upwards and off the bed. My eyes shot open at once in shock to meet two grey ones dancing in mirth.

"Scorpius," I muttered as I took in blond hair and a cocky grin, "this scene is becoming a little too familiar,"

One eyebrow rose and suddenly I found my self on my feet, standing in front of him. "Oh, I'm not carrying you this time Rosie. But if you ask very nicely I may be persuaded to carry that death threat of a boulder you call a bag."

"How gentlemanly of you," My tone was more teasing than muttering. What can I say, if he was stupid enough to carry my bag for me then who was I to argue? He wasn't kidding when he called the thing a death threat. As Scorpius disappeared to collect my bag I let my gaze sweep over the room one last time. I was alone in the hospital wing, no other students being sick at the moment and the new nurse having obviously sent Scorpius to do her job. Two empty vials that had once held potions stood on the bedside table. That was all that had been needed in the end to get me fixed up. Two tiny potions that cured the flue. Here I'd been, afraid that I was dying and all the time all that had been wrong was that I had had a bout of the flue.

Shaking my head at how unnecessary the whole thing had been, I ran a hand through my hair and nearly squeaked in horror when I felt just how much like a bird's nest it must look. There wasn't a brush in sight so instead I forced my hands through the tangle – not that it helped even a teeny tiny bit.

"Damn damn damn damn," I muttered as I took numerous wild swipes through my long hair. Four swipes in I hit the first tangle, my fingers firmly catching in the mess. "Ouch ouch ouch,"

"Is it repeat all words day?" the drawl behind me didn't even scare me this time. I was getting too use to my new shadow. I ignored him, instead turning my desperate actions to get my hands out of my hair. "Need any help?" His tone was completely innocent but that didn't hide the mischievous gleam in his eyes.

What could I possibly do but glare at him and mutter, "Yes, please,"

His grin widened so I glared even harder at him. "Keep doing that and I might just leave you there."

"You're such a gentleman,"

"If your tone wasn't so dry I might just have believed you," Nether the less he stepped forward and helped me free myself. It seemed I had a gift of getting into the most ludicrous situations ever. "I think I now know what they mean when the refer to a bad hair day,"

"I sure as hell hope I infected you," With a tug that was a little harder than needed I came free from the red danger zone.

Scorpius just kept grinning down at me. "I don't know, it was just one small kiss. Maybe you should give it another try just to make sure."

I wasn't sure when fighting had turned into flirting but it was actually kind of fun. Hiding the fact that I actually wanted to burst out laughing in his face, I forced a flirtatious smile and took hold of his collar so I could pull him closer. A breath away I stopped. "Too bad I'm in tip top shape again. Nice try," Not even bother to hide my own grin I pushed him away with a rough shove against his chest so that, with a surprised thump, he landed in a sitting position on the bed I had so recently vacated. "So, are you coming or are you going to be sitting around all day?"

While he got back to his feet I made a futile attempt to flatten my hair. There wasn't much of a point to my attempts but it kept me busy. Why did I have to have inherited mom's hair? If I had to be cursed with the bright Weasley red couldn't I at least have gotten the straightness as well? I blew a curl out of my face, happily picturing a pair of scissors chomping off the lot. Too bad I loved having long hair. I was still trying to flatten some of the worse spots when a cap was suddenly pushed onto my head.

I blinked a few times before spotting Scorpius' grin as he made his way towards the exit. "Coming Weasley?" he called over his shoulder, his tone back to teasing.

I pulled the cap tighter before following him, refusing to let him see the gratefulness in my eyes. Just because I appreciated his help didn't mean I had to be nice to him. Beside, teasing him was way more fun than turning into one of his swooning followers.

"So," We were halfway down the hall before I managed to catch up with him. His stride was quick and purposeful and I was forced to walk at my 'flatten everyone around me' pace to be even close to keeping up. "You all better now? No more falling asleep at tables?"

Why did I have the distinct feeling he was making fun of me? Well, two could play at that game. "So it seems. And I was so looking forward to having an excuse to blow of this date I have this weekend. Now it seems I'm going to have to listen to the git the entire day. Maybe you've met him? He's egotistical, a complete jerk, seems to think the world revolves around him and never seems to realize how big a moron he really is."

"Sounds familiar."

I look up at him and for the first time saw a completely relaxed grin on his face. He was enjoying this, I realized as I stumbled after him. And, if I truly being honest with myself, so was I…

I paused at the realization, unsure how three days could have created such a huge change in our relationship. It was like we had just reached a point where continuing as we were would prove impossible, so instead we had simply done a one-eighty.

It took Scorpius a couple of steps to realize I was no longer next to him. "Rose, you okay?"

I looked at him, looked at him properly for the first time in – probably ever, and I realized with a good deal of surprise that I no longer simply saw the jerk that had the ability to make my temper flare in seconds, or the proud Slytherin who thought himself better than the rest of the world. Instead I simply saw Scorpius and the concern on his face. It was time for me to let go of the past and try and move forward.

I smiled at him, a small unsure smile that betrayed the insecurity I still felt at this turn of events. But it proved I was at least going to try and he better do the same or I was going to go all ninja witch on his ass. Okay, the smile probably only showed the first part but it didn't make it any less true. I had definitely inherited some of my mom's temper even if I very rarely showed it. The part I constantly showed sure as heck all came from Dad's side.

He still looked worried when I finally caught up with him.

"Relax Scorpius, I have enough potion in me to cure an elephant – and that's not code for 'compare me to an elephant', you hear." I narrowed my eyes in warning. "I'll be fine as soon as you stop this mission you seem to be on. What are you doing anyway? Trying to break the speed record for crossing the hallway?"

His grin turned sheepish. "Sorry, it's just…" he paused as I raised one eyebrow at him. "Your bag is damn heavy Rose,"

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing there and then. He didn't seem to share my amusement at his bad luck. It was his own fault for offering to carry it in the first place. I was still chuckling by the time we reached the grand staircase. I pulled on his arm to get him to stop and motioned for my bag.

"It's okay Scorp, you've had a longer day than I have. I can make the rest of the way. Go back to your common room, you look like you can use the rest." My tone was honest and sincere, not calling him weak or anything, just knowing he needed the rest as much as I did at this stage.

"Afraid your bag might snap of my arm?" His teasing tone showed he caught my rift as he shrugged off my bag.

I took it with a grin. "We can't have that, now can we? I'm looking too forward to going all fangirl on you on Friday."

He blinked in surprise. "You are?"

"Uh huh, who doesn't like having the Quidditch star as their boyfriend? I expect you to win so I can keep my honor, you hear Malfoy?"

His grin snapped back in place, his eyes suddenly turning intense as he looked down at me. "Oh, I'll win alright." The flirty tone was back.

I opened my mouth, ready to retort as always, when I spotted David approaching. I waved at my old patrol buddy, surprised at how miserable he looked. When Kate appeared a few seconds later it was pretty obvious why.

I saw Scorpius instantly tensing at her arrival, his hands curling into fists as his jaw firmly set. He so wasn't Kate's number one fan. Without even realizing I was doing so I reached out and took on of his hands in one of mine, automatically trying to offer him comfort and strength. It seemed to work. Instead of staying curled into a fist, his hand took a firm hold of mine, squeezing it tightly, but not tight enough to hurt me, in his own.

"Scorpius," Kate's voice sounded utterly delighted when she caught sight of him. Her sunny smile vanished and her tone turned clipped when she spotted me. "Rose,"

I didn't bother replying, just squeezed tighter at Scorp's hand. Was this what it use to be like with him, this feeling of dread and hatred threatening to overwhelm me in seconds? As she turned her flirty smile back to him I noticed why it felt different. I had never been jealous when I'd argued with Malfoy, but I felt it now and knew if I didn't get out of here soon I'd do something I'd regret.

There was only one thing I could think of.

I peek past Kate and with relief noticed David had stayed back and was looking in the opposite direction. Good, unless I screamed it at the top of my lungs he wasn't going to see or hear what I was about to do. I smiled sweetly at Kate before turning to Scorpius and forcing a yawn.

"Oh, sorry, it seems today have caught up with me. I better head of to bed." I saw the flash of disappointment in his eyes at me abandoning him, but I wasn't done yet. Just like last time I grabbed the collar of his robes and pulled him down.

I was almost grateful for Kate's arrival. Without her here I wouldn't have been able to do what I'd been dying to do for the last ten minutes. Scorpius didn't need to know I'd been looking for an excuse. All he needed to know was that Kate was getting a pretty clear message that he was taken.

There wasn't even a moment's surprise from him this time, instead he instantly pulled me close and deepened the kiss further than I had been expecting. This, I assured myself, was the only reason I let it go on longer than planned. Who was I kidding, it was just too plain wonderful to let go. If he hadn't pulled back I'd have happily stayed there for the next ten minutes.

As I pulled back it was through a miracle alone that I remembered my original plan. I forced my voice to turn silky and flirty (dear word I hoped it actually came out that way and not like a squawk) and murmured loud enough for Kate to hear, "Thanks for a wonderful night Scorp. I had so much fun," I was pretty sure Kate would get the impression that the staircase kiss wasn't the first tonight, at least her bright red cheeks seem to scream that. I caught a flash of something I couldn't place in Scorp's eyes but it was gone as quickly as it came. At least I could rest assure that he didn't think I abandoned him anymore.

I found myself smiling broadly as I lunged my boulder of a bag all the way up to the common room.

* * *

The common room was over packed and full of action when I practically fell through the portrait hole. It wasn't unusual since it wasn't really all that late, but the sight of Anne sitting all alone surprised me. She was never alone, preferring to spend her time gossiping with the other girls or annoying one of my cousins. Hey, we'd been friends since first year; she knew how annoying my family could be. She looked almost sad from where I was standing.

Without a second's hesitation I headed towards her. That was my job as a best friend after all. It didn't matter that I was tired after a long day and several potions, or even that I was a little annoyed with her behavior earlier. She was my friend and she'd never be able to piss me off so badly that I wouldn't help her in her hour of need. As I came closer she looked up, her eyes tinged red from crying. If Jack was the cause I was going to pound the living daylight out of him, even if he was Scorp's best friend.

I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong, probably make a quip about which side of Jack's face I should aim for while I was at it, but Anne beat me to the punch. With a loud sob she leaped to her feet and threw her arms around me.

"Oh Rose!" her voice would have betrayed her tears even if her eyes hadn't. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think about anyone but myself this morning and the whole time I should have been thinking about you. I'm such a bad friend – no, I'm worse. I'm a self-serving heartless bit…"

I smacked a hand over her mouth. "Uh uh, don't you dare finish that sentence." I sounded pretty threatening, even to myself. "Where's this coming from Anne? You know I wouldn't do anything I didn't want to do." Okay, maybe I hadn't really wanted to confront Fiona all that much but Anne didn't need to know that. All she needed to be assured of was that I was her best friend and that I was there for her whenever she needed me. "Calm down Annie. Who upset you like this?"

She swiped her sleeves at her eyes, desperately trying to clear away fresh tears. "He didn't mean to make me cry Rose, he was just stating the facts. I should have realized I was being such a bad friend in the first place. Fiona is my nemesis; I should deal with her myself."

My eyes narrow in warning. "Anne, who was it," I spoke each word individually, proving to her I was being dead serious.

Anne looked down at the floor to avoid my gaze but I heard her soft whisper of, "Malfoy."

I was out of there quicker than anyone could say 'oops'. Anne tried to follow me, but I was faster, fueled by fury. Besides, she didn't know where the Slytherin common room was while dad had let it slip ages ago – although that may only have been so James knew where he had to cause the most ruckus. A few twist and turns through various hallways lost her in no time.

I turned my attention back to Malfoy. How dare he take on my best friend? How dare he call her a self-serving heartless bitch? And okay Anne hadn't exactly said that Malfoy had been the one to use those words, but if she believed it he may as well have. He had no right, absolutely no right at all. Three days of calling a truce and he thought he had any right to stick his nose in my personal business. Huh, he had another think coming. No one messed with Rose Weasley and got away with it.

I stormed down the dungeon's stairs, not even caring that the curfew was almost upon us. Luckily for me – and very unluckily for Malfoy – there was a group of first years gathered by what I was pretty sure was the Slytherin common room entrance.

"Go get Scorpius Malfoy. Now." I sounded scary even to myself. Pissed Rose was definitely not a … well, bed of roses. The first years jumped in fright at my sudden appearance and fled into the hole that formed brick wall. They better call the git, because their whispered 'camber of secrets' hadn't escaped me. I wasn't deaf, idiots, I was just seriously peeved. I was pacing like a restless lioness when the wall suddenly slid open and an extremely surprised Malfoy slipped into the room.

"Rose?" his voice was a mixture of surprise and concern but I was in no mood to play nice.

"How dare you," My tone was venomous, angry, pure old Rose. "How dare you take on my friends behind my back Malfoy?"

He let out a sigh, his back and shoulders straightening to make him as tall as possible. He was preparing for the fight we both knew was coming. "I take it you've spoken to Anne,"

"She was in tears you git," I wasn't going to hold back, the truce seemingly shattered into pieces. "What made you think in any situation it was okay to call her a self-serving heartless bitch? She's my best friend. If she needs me to deal with a completely ludicrous situation because she can't do it alone then she has full right to do so. That's what friends are for Malfoy. We have each other's backs even if you think the other person is being completely ridiculous and an idiot. You had no right going to her behind my back. No right at all."

"So you're just going to let her walk all over you?" His voice was loud and seriously pissed, just like mine. "She was acting like a child all day and you think it's okay because she's your friend? A friend's suppose to notice and actually care when it looks like you're about to faint, not drag you around all day because she can't deal with her own childish problems. And don't tell me she couldn't cope without you Rose because we both know that's rubbish. Jake was there all day and so was I. Jake would have had her back without her even saying a word and I'd have done the same if you'd asked nicely. She had support but she clung to you like a toddler who can't let go of their mother. And I didn't call her a self-serving heartless bitch. I may have implied it but I didn't call her anything worth crying about. And as for not having a right, I disagree. Bloody hell, you didn't seem to give a fig that you were sick! How the hell else could I get her to open her eyes? What if it was something worse, huh? She'd still just have dragged you along."

I don't know what possessed me, but with a blinding flash I turned violent. In one quick move I slapped him in the face. Strangely enough I got no satisfaction from the move and lifted my hand to repeat the action. Twice was better than once right? This time he knew it was coming, grabbing my hand in midair and pulling me to him. His arms crushed me to him and before I could let out an undignified protest he silenced me with a kiss. Much as I hated to admit it, Malfoy may have found the most effective method of stopping a fight. Hell, I could barely remember what we were fighting about by the time he pulled back.

"I had to do something Rosie," he whispered as he rested his forehead on mine. "I know you don't need me, but I couldn't just stand there and let her get away with being selfish while you had to suffer. She has to think sometimes. You may act like it Rose, but your not unbreakable. I needed to ensure Anne knew that too."

I closed my eyes, leaning against him as I tried to get my emotions in check. My anger seemed to have abandoned me in a rush, leaving me tired and drained. He was right of course, Anne needed to know when enough was enough. I'd meant to talk to her about it a long time ago but had never quite been able to scrape together the courage I needed. Instead Scorpius had charged the problem head on instead of waiting for me. All because he cared.

I raise my head to look at him. How weird it felt, Scorpius Malfoy actually cared and here I was trying to bite his head off.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, avoiding his grey eyes as the tried to meet mine. "I didn't mean to snap. Who am I kidding, I'm always looking for a reason to snap and you're my usual punching bag." I returned my forehead to his, letting my eyes drift close as I did. "I use to seek you out, you know? When I had a bad day and I just needed to let off steam I simply came looking for you. I could snap and scold and simply forget about the crappy day I was having. It was so easy baiting you and you'd never back down from a challenge. You're wrong you know?"

"About?"

"About me needing you. Much as I hat to admit it, it seems like I've been needing you for a while. And if you remind me of this conversation I'll deny it to the grave."

His smiled warmly as he pulled me into his arms. "Let's just imagine you called me a slimy git."

"A selfish slimy git."

"Who's full of himself,"

"And as thick as a brick,"

"Never cares for anyone but himself,"

"Always says the wrong things,"

"And thinks being a Quidditch player makes him better than everyone else,"

"Hmm, why does all of this sound a little familiar?"

He let out a laugh. "I think I've heard it all somewhere before."

I snuggled closer to him, enjoying the feel of his strong arms around me. Strange that Scorpius Malfoy could make me feel so safe and secure. Life was definitely getting interesting. "Wherever we heard it, the person must have been seriously wise."

"I don't know, she seems to sprout some serious nonsense every now and then. And she scares the heck out of first years. I don't think you know this, but those three came running like they'd seen a ghost. They told me I'd better come, a 'scary lady' demanded my attention. Respect."

"I'll show them a scary lady. They haven't seen anything yet."

"That's what I told them,"

I stepped on his toe in retaliation but stayed where I was, laughing softly at his girlish yelp. I would have stayed there for who knows how long if Anne hadn't come rushing round the corner. Her breath came in deep gasps, an obvious sign she'd been desperately looking for me.

"Rose, thank good…" she caught sight of Scorp and her eyes widened. "Oh no, please tell me you didn't take him on Rose? Why do you look in pain Malfoy."

He stepped in before I had a chance to. "Because Rose had some genuinely devious payback methods in that evil little mind of hers. Listen Anne, about earlier…"

Anne held up a hand to silence him. "No, you were right. I was so caught up in my own problems that I didn't even notice Rose was struggling. I was a bad friend and you had the full right to express your opinion."

"But I could have been a lot nicer. I know sometimes I can be a serious dick…"

"No arguments here," I interrupted quickly. He glared down at me while Anne simply laughed.

"I'm definitely not giving my opinion on that. The bottom line is I was wrong and I'm going to make it up to the both of you. But right now I think it's best to get back to bed, it's almost curfew."

With a sigh I forced myself to pull back from my nice warm pillow. "Just as I was getting comfortable. Night Scorp."

"I'll walk you back."

"Uh uh, you hear Anne, it's almost curfew. Detention won't bother us but you have a game on Friday."

"It won't be that much fun if you're in detention,"

"I'll send Al with a sigh, and I'll make sure it has a nice saucy message on it. How bout 'Slytherin sure know what to do with balls'. Anne almost chocked on a laugh behind me. Scorpius looked like he didn't know if he should laugh or cringe. "Anyway, night night." I leaned forward and placed a feather soft kiss on the cheek I had smacked moments earlier.

I made to follow Anne but Scorp caught my right hand and held it up in front of him. With his free hand he curled my fingers into a fist, carefully ensuring my thumb wasn't in the way.

"Any time you feel you need to defend yourself you do that, okay? Don't hold back. I've felt you do it before so don't pretend like you don't know how to." His eyes were serious, his mind back on the day we met.

"You were lucky Scorp," I teased, "I would've felt sorry for hurting you so instead I just reminding you I can be serious. Like you said, I know how to defend myself when necessary." I winked at him before rushing after Anne. Life at Hogwarts was getting pretty fascinating. I peeked over my shoulder at the tall blond guy grinning after me.

Jip, pretty fascinating and I had a feeling I was going to enjoy it a heck of a lot.

We managed to get to and up the grand staircase without spotting Kate or Peeves, a feat I never imagined possible. The Fat Lady was waiting with a knowing smile.

"You sort out your problems Weasley? He seems like such a nice boy,"

I laughed at her nosiness but couldn't resist adding, "Oh he is. And so easy to train." And with that I slipped into the still overcrowded common room and up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. Tonight, I was going to sleep like a corps.

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**Okay, I'm pretty sure everyone wants to kill me for taking this long to update. I'm groveling at your feet and begging for forgiveness. Truth is life is simply getting in the way. And when I do have time to write I have absolutely no inspiration a.k.a. writer's block! It's sad and it sucks but every now and then the need for a new chapter arises. Like this one today.**

**With some of my other stories I've discovered a Beta is an extremely useful thing, so – I may have done this before but am going to do it again anyway – I'm enquiring if anyone is interested in becoming my Beta for this story? It's nicer having someone who knows the story being the Beta than asking someone who hasn't read anything, so that's why I'm asking you guys so nicely. Let me know and I'll get back to you. If you think you may be able to kick me in the butt every now and then and demand an update even better.**

**So, a very belated thank you for your awesome reviews: kitty-is-a-dreamer, MagicErised11966, mixthealphabet, RealGirlsHaveCurves, JumpUpAndDown, PsychoBrunette, Scorose4ever, Scorose4ever, NegligibleNaina, Loveablerook, Tanny Apple, libbypotter, theycallherkaush, ober22, SaruDM, mad not sad, m0rganosity, TheInnerMusingsOfMe, Anie1129, Lizzy0308 and justbeingmexoxo.**

**P.s. People keep asking me if I'm giving up on my stories. My answer: never! I'm just waiting for inspiration!**

**P.p.s. If anyone knows of a nice cover picture to use you're more than welcome to recommend it!**


	8. 7: Al's Secret

******A/N at the bottom again.**

**RavenclawWithHisNoseInABook, I'll get back to you as soon as I can about Betaing. I just wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible as I won't have any time for writing in the next couple of days.**

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**Chapter 7**

**Al's Secret  
**

I pulled my black cloak closer to my body, the dark hood carefully draped over by bright red hair to conceal the colorful mass. I slowly sneaked forward, cringing slightly as the floorboards under my feet let out a loud creak. I paused, making sure no one had heard the noise before continuing. Almost there, almost there…

I suddenly leaped forward, letting out a growl – that sounded more like a unhinged puppy than the bear I'd been aiming for – and landed squarely on my hands and knees on Anne's bed. She let out a shout of terror as she came awake with a start. I grinned. Payback sure was sweet.

"Rose! Are you completely deranged? It's not even light yet you crazy moron!" I heard groans around us as her screaming woke the rest of the room.

I didn't care one bit, sauntering off the bed like a regal queen – at least that's the effect I'd been aiming for. Tripping over the hem of my cloak may have ruined it a teeny bit. Regaining my composure – as if I have any – I spun around to face Anne, nearly tripping over the hem a second time. I was so use to my clumsy feats at this stage that it didn't even cause a moment's pause in my actions.

"That, my dear Anne, was for yesterday morning. Today the old Rose is back and man oh man are you going to suffer," I tried a mischievous smile but probably just looked like a complete loon. I yanked up the cloak and tried to pull it over my head but naturally it had to decide at that moment it didn't really feel like coming free. Jip, the old Rose was definitely back in action.

I felt something wiz past me, the cloak coming free just in time to make me stumble out of the way. Another plus point to my extreme clumsiness, it made sure I hurt others but they seemed unable to return the favor. I glared at Marilyn Green whose bed was in the far corner of the room who'd thrown what appeared to be a shoe at me.

"Real mature, Mar," I called cheerfully, knowing it was a typical case of pot meeting kettle.

She grumbled in response and threw what looked like a very friendly sign in my direction before turning over and returning to sleep. The others instantly followed suit, not even thinking of getting up this early in the morning. Normally I'd have been right there alongside them, but I'd spent most of the previous day sleeping and was now wide awake and brimming with energy. There wasn't much I could do until at least dawn and that was still an hour or two away. All I could do was take a nice long shower or continue with my essay. Shower it was. Way too quickly I was clean and dressed, my hair spelled dry and naturally going wild. I glared at it in the mirror for a few seconds before sighing in defeat and pulling it into a high ponytail. One quick glance around the room was enough to tell me the rest had all nodded off again.

Forcing away a frown I dropped my shoulders in defeat and slumped out of the room. There was nothing else I could do but get to work. Curse my workaholic ways. I had already accepted my fate by the time I'd stomped down stairs, my mind running trough my work load and what was due when. I was so preoccupied that I didn't notice Al until I nearly fell over his big feet.

"For goodness sake Al," I muttered after desperately fighting to regain my balance. "What the heck are you…" I froze, realizing my cousin was fast asleep in what I was pretty sure was an uncomfortable position. His books lay strewn in front of him, essays and task almost due laying half finished. He was still in his Quidditch robes, mud caking his sleeves and shoes. "You are going to work yourself into a coma," I warned him in a whisper, slipping past his hazard causing feet and sitting down opposite him. I pulled his work closer, carefully examining the words he had written. I felt an eyebrow rise in response to what I saw. Sure, that's the correct answer – if he were a two headed troll!

Resisting the urge to yank him by the collar and demand if he was a retard, I stole one of Al's pencils and frowned at his work. There was no way on Earth I was doing his work for him, but that didn't mean I couldn't correct the rubbish that he'd already written. And believe me, it was rubbish from the word go.

I finished just as the early birds started drifting down the staircases leading to the boys' and girls' rooms. Al was still fast asleep, the dark circles under his eyes clearer now that sunlight started filtering trough the windows. We needed to have a bit of a talk about his constant Quidditch, and we needed to have it soon.

"Al?" I nudged him in the shoulder, but Mr. Sleepy was still out for the count. "Al?" I aimed a poking finger at the joint in his shoulder but he still didn't move. Oh well, if he wanted to play hardball. "Al!" Okay, maybe that shout was a little harder than technically necessary. At least it did what it was suppose to. Al was awake, even if the rest of the common room nearly had a heart attack in the process.

"Who what?" his speech slurred in confusion, his eyes going from blurry to realization to glaring as he took in my smug smile. "Rose, what are you doing here?"

"Making sure my cousin doesn't miss breakfast. And I'd be happy if I were you. I could've woken you an hour ago if I wanted to." I jumped to my feet before shoving at him to get up. "Come on big guy, go take a shower and get dressed. I'll wait for you so we can get breakfast together. The two of us need to talk."

He ran a tired hand through his messy hair. "Is this about Malfoy?" His voice was weary.

"Amongst other things. Go. And if you're not back in fifteen minutes I'm coming up there to look for you. You know I will." I'd made the threat before and actually gone through with it, so he knew he'd have to hurry. Thank goodness the worst I'd seen had been a towel clad fifth year who screamed like a little girl when he saw me. Good times.

He wearily made his way up the stairs, coming back down just in time. I hid my relief behind an uncaring mask. Seeing one squealing boy in my lifetime was more than enough, thank you very much. He caught sight of his work, letting out a sigh of relief as he noticed the work I had done.

"Merlin, what would I have done without you Rose?"

"Failed." Hey, who had time for flowery words? He knew I didn't mean it anyway. I dropped the mask and let my concern wash over my face. "Al, you know if you need some help…"

"I should have asked you, I know. I'm sorry Rose. It's just you had your own problems and Quidditch has been taking over lately. I guess I just didn't want you to worry."

"I always worry Al. You know I can't stop myself. Besides," I smirked, "if I don't worry about you, who will?"

"Thanks Rose, it's always so nice to know you care," his tone was dry but his grin was genuine. He gave me a quick hug before gathering up all his work and stuffing the whole lot in his bag. "I have to rewrite everything anyway," he muttered as he fought with the zip. He hadn't mastered the art of bag stuffing like I had.

"Maybe if you started earlier…" It was a suggestion, maybe a bit of a hint. Al just rolled his eyes. He was use to me trying (and usually succeeding, may I add) to boss him around.

"Yes, mother," He followed me out the common room before adding, "What was it you wanted to discuss anyway?"

"What do you think?"

He groaned like he'd been expecting and dreading this question for some time. "Come on Rosie, what was I suppose to do? You've hated this guy since the start and now you're suddenly a couple? Was I supposed to assume anything but that he was trying to ruin your reputation or get back at you for something? I had to take him on, it's my job as your cous…"

"And you could have done a much better job. No bruises, no scars, not even a dazed expression. If that was protecting my honor I'm afraid you failed big time." I bumped him with my shoulder to assure him I was teasing. "Besides, that's not what I was talking about,"

He blinked in surprise at my words. "You're not mad at me confronting Malfoy? Who are you and what've you done with Rose?"

I shrugged. I could make him suffer for his actions, but I didn't really feel like it at the time. Which is kind of strange as torturing people is usually sort of my forte. "It's kind of sweet, in a never-ever-do-that-again-or-I'll-break-your-nose kind of way. You're much more observant than Anne, who, might I add, as my best girl friend should instantly have picked up on it."

Al laughed. "She has been a little scatter brained lately,"

One eyebrow rose. "A little? Boy, she's worse than Grandpa Weasley in a muggle appliance store."

We both grinned at the memory. "Shame, all he wanted was a pair of batteries for the tv remote. How was he supposed to know he had to buy a specific size?"

"And the rude assistant wasn't helping."

"He was by the time Grandma Weasley was done with him." He threw an arm over my shoulder and pulled me close, visibly more relaxed now. "So, what is the situation between you and Malfoy anyway? And don't tell me it's all pretend, cause I know you Rose. You can't act for beans and the last few days – don't kill me, but you're actually looking happy,"

"Hey, I'm the one suppose to be asking questions around here." That and his question was making me uncomfortable. I didn't really know where to place Scorpius at this stage and I really didn't want to think about it too much.

"We're taking turns. You answer this and I'll return the favor."

Typical Al, always knowing how to twist a situation in his favor. I sighed, knowing resistance was futile. Besides, this was Al. Anne may have been my best girl friend since first year, but Al held the place closest to my heart. He was my best friend as well as family. We'd known each other forever – literally – and by now knew each other inside and out. If I lied or tried to dodge the question he'd know and keep annoying me about it until I finally submitted defeat. It would have been annoying if I wasn't able to do exactly the same.

I took a deep breath. "Truthfully Al, I have no idea. I mean I've hated the git – " some things would never change " – all this time and now… It's only been three days and I feel like I'm seeing a whole other person. I keep asking myself where the self-obsessed asshole I know has disappeared to. Mind you I still haven't forgiven him for calling mum a you-know-what. But…" I paused, subconsciously scrambling for the right words. "I don't know what's up with me. Part of my brain in screaming at me not to trust him, that leopards don't change their spots that easily – and come on, he's a Malfoy for goodness sake! Yet, I can't hate him anymore. Maybe all these years of fighting have tired me out for good. Who knew he could be kind? And funny? And sweet?" I groaned out loud as the though hit me. "Dad's going to kill me, isn't he?"

I turned my head to look at Al for the first time and was surprised at what I saw. Instead of the frown of disapproval I'd been expecting he looked thoughtful. And he was wearing that bloody smile again!

I clenched my teeth, fighting down the urge to swipe at him. What was up with that freaking smile? He looked like he knew something important and I was simply too dense to figure it out. And I, Rose Weasley, was anything but dense!

"Care to share?" my words came out sharper than I had expected.

Al didn't looked too bothered, pulling me closer as his annoying twist of lips turned into a full blown grin. "You know what Rosie, sometimes it's better to leave people to figure out things on their own. And since I'm such a good cousin I'm declaring now one of those times. Uh uh uh," I snapped my mouth close again, not even starting my rant before he cut me off. "I don't care what you say or how bad you'll make me feel, believe me when I say I'm doing this all for you."

"Gee, how generous of you," Even sarcastic Rose wasn't going to win this war. The one thing that seemed to run in every single member of our – extremely large according to some people – family was stubbornness. Every single freaking one of us. If Al was going to zip his lips I was well aware even a crowbar was going to force it open again. "Fine, be that way. But just cause you're being so unreasonable you're going to have to make it up to me."

"Oh come on Rose, getting on my knees and begging you for forgiveness in the middle of the great hall was bad enough once."

"You deserved it,"

I saw his forehead wrinkle in a frown. "Merlin, I can't even remember what I did wrong that time. You?"

"Not a clue."

"But I deserved it?"

"You always do."

"I do, don't I?" He lifted his free shoulder, forcing the bag slung over it into a more comfortable position in the process. I would have done the same but since moving the death threat normally meant smacking someone in the process I thought it safer to leave it where it was. "Okay Rose, you win. What do I need to do?"

"Don't sound so weary, it's not that bad." The look he gave me told me he didn't even come close to believing me. Which I may totally have deserved. I usually had a way of making Al work for forgiveness, and since he had a tendency to screw up he'd had to so many times over the past five years. What can I say, cruelty and creativity rhyme. "I was going to ask you anyway, but now you're no longer allowed to refuse,"

"Like I would have had a choice,"

I heard his mutter. Feeling in a mood for vengeance I swung my shoulder back. As predicted my bag followed and thumped Al in the back.

"Okay okay okay, please continue."

"You know the Quidditch match this Friday? I was kind of hoping you'd go with me?" Despite my earlier teasing I left the decision up to him. He was a smart boy, he'd figure out why we were going in the first place.

He looked thoughtful as we entered the great hall, his eyes settling on the Slytherin table which was almost empty this early in the morning. His eyes remained there a moment longer before they returned to me. "We're not going to have to wear green, are we?"

The reluctance in his voice made me laugh out loud and hug him close. "Course not Al, we Gryffindors have pride after all. Who knows, I might even spell one of the banners to insult the whole lot of them."

"Aren't you supposed to be on their side?" He didn't sound too opposed to my idea however.

"Pff, I promised Scorp I'd go. I never said I'd be nice."

"It's times like this I'm glad we're family." Al said with a fake shudder.

Letting go of him I dropped my bag next to my bench – the sound echoing around the bare hall like an exploding bomb – before scrambling over the bench and nearly landing face first on the table. More than five years and I still couldn't even get over a bench without something clumsy happening. Al waited until I was settled before seating himself next to me. He still hadn't forgotten the incident where I'd grabbed him for balance and pulled him face first into James' cereal in the process. One would have expected James to be angry at losing his breakfast instead of nearly rolling around on the floor laughing as he proceeded to do. As plates of food materialized in front of us I remembered the main reason I'd wanted to talk with him in the first place.

"Getting back to the reason I wanted to talk to you…"

"Quidditch wasn't it?"

"Actually, yes it is. But not Malfoy's Quidditch. Your Quidditch."

"What's wrong with my Quidditch? Please don't tell me we suck, we've been working our asses off –"

"And that's just the problem Al. You're pushing yourself too far. You're always tired, never around anymore, fall asleep doing your homework – do you even sleep?"

"I get sleep Rosie –"

"Don't use that tone with me Al, I have a right to worry. I know how importance it's to you, but maybe you should slow down just a little bit. You've got a talented team, but making them all fail their school work isn't going to get you anywhere. Heck I'll even kidnap Malfoy when you play Slytherin if it'll get you to rest a little more."

"Ohh, that sounds exiting," Lilly Potter, Al's sister and another one of my cousins, slid into the space beside me. Her brown eyes glittered with mirth as she tightened her sleek red ponytail. "Judging from the rumors going around that sentence sounds a lot kinkier than it would have a week ago."

I tried to stay calm, composed, like the quiet surface of a lake – who am I kidding, I lunged for her like a crazy red haired lion. She squealed with laughter, desperately fighting me off as I tried to tickle her under the ribs.

"Your not even suppose to know what kinky means." I insisted, her fighting hands only making me try harder.

"Please you two, I don't want to hear Rose and the work 'kinky' in the same sentence ever again." Al looked down at his breakfast like his appetite had fully vanished.

I met Lilly's gaze and the two of us burst out in wild giggles. Hey, we're girls, we have the full right to have a giggle fest once in a while.

"I don't know," I forced my tone to sound completely serious, "'The Kinky Rose' sounds like an excellent book title if you ask me." The laughter became even louder as Al pushed his bowl as far away from him as possible.

"Stop it Rose," his tone betrayed his amusement despite his pained expression. He turned to look over his shoulder and loudly sighed in relief. "Thank Merlin, help has arrived." He raised one arm, motioning wildly for someone to join us.

I rolled my eyes, sure that it was only James. James would take Al's side for sure but Lily and I made a mean team. They were going down. I propped a spoonful of cornflakes in my mouth, my mind already forming insults worthy of James Potter. I nearly choked on the food, however, when Al slid down a seat and none other than Scorpius Malfoy seated himself next to me. I glanced at Al. That bloody smile was back! I glared, imagining myself hitting him with a frying pan.

Scorpius looked a little surprised at the warm welcome he was receiving – what with Al's loony smile, Lilly's wide-eyed stare and my glare (not directed at him, but still) who wouldn't feel welcome?

"Oh, hello." Merlin, could this get any worse? James seated himself opposite me, his smile very readable and pure mischief.

"Run for your life," I hissed at Malfoy who, for the first time I'd ever seen, looked a little intimidated. "The loons are going to attack."

"You're safe," James replied nonchalantly as he began filling his plate, "our leader seems to have accepted you." I glared at him, not missing the fact that he was calling me the leader of the loons.

"Don't you have a toilet to blow up or something?"

"Oh, that reminds me, don't use the girl's bathroom on the fifth floor."

Lilly paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. "Do I want to know how you know about anything in the girl's bathroom?"

"A prankster never reveals his secrets, Lil, you know that. Besides, whatever it was that happened may have happened when Kate was in the vicinity…"

"We didn't hear anything." We all looked at Scorpius in surprise. One thing was sure, he sure adapted quickly. His cocky self-assured grin was back, his body relaxed as he lounged on the bench. My loony family must have been deemed harmless. Oh ye of little faith. Didn't he know we would strike when least expected?

James recovered first. "Good. Mentioning something like that in the presence of three prefects may not have been the smartest of ideas."

"It's okay James, you have so few smart ideas we've gotten use to it," Lilly smiled innocently at her brother's glare.

He opened his mouth to reply but before he could was pushed aside by another arrival.

"Merlin I'm starving," my brother Hugo went straight for the food, seemingly unfazed by Scorp's presence. My suspicion was confirmed when looked up and said, "Hey Scorpius," before returning to his bread roll.

I barely touched my food, much too amazed at the ease with which everyone accepted the new addition despite the fact that he was a Malfoy and thus number one enemy to all Weasleys. Even Fred, Dominique and Louis barely batted an eye when they arrived. I spared a glance at Scorp who was now deep in discussion with Al and James over something Quidditch.

All the while my mind was screaming one thing at me: Dad is going to kill you Rose! I was supposed to turn the family against Malfoy, not invite him with open arms. But James was right, because I accepted him so was everyone else.

I was still staring at my family like a loon when Scorpius pushed his plate under my nose. I looked up at his grey eyes, wondering if he was finding this as weird as hell too. Instead he motioned to the plate and ordered, "Eat," before returning his attention back to Quidditch.

I shook my head, half surprised, half bemused and did as I was told. Just this once.

* * *

**Hey everyone, sorry for the shortish chapter but I won't have time to write for the next few days and thought it best to at least leaving you with something while I don't have writer's block. It's unbetaed, so all mistakes are mine - and therefore I'm sure there's a few. Just smile and ignore them. Or laugh like a loon, and still ignore them.**

**Thanks so much for the reviews! It's the best feeling ever getting feedback from all of you! So as always thanks for the reviewers (and if your name's not here, why didn't you review you evil evil person? =P): Olive, RavenclawWithHisNoseInABook, acciohome, Lovestoread456, RichelleStark15, MagicErised11966, TheInnerMusingsOfMe, whatapileofshit10, Mizuno-Suzuka and m0rganosity **(Yay, so good to hear from you again! Enjoy college! My test week is a week away and then we have a break (I refuse to call it a holiday) which is exactly a week long before heading back to work, so enjoy the still-in-party-mode-and-ignoring-all-the-lectures time. It's always the most fun. Then we realize we have to actually work…)

**Anyway, let me know what you think. Reviews make me very happy (ja, that's a pretty clear hint that you should review) so you know what to do.  
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**Until next time!  
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	9. 8: Quidditch for Dummies

**Look who's back!**

**Attention: I'm holding the next chapter hostage! You guys didn't really tell me what you thought of the last chapter so I'm going to be cruel, sneaky and evil this time. Let me know what you think and I may just be tempted to post the next chapter very very soon.**

**A huge shout out to my new beta m0rganosity! May my grammatical errors be a thing of the past!**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Quidditch for Dummies**

"And here I though you despised Quidditch with every fiber of your being," I took a sweeping glance at Anne's attire. "Silly me,"

She glared in return, raised the index, middle and ring finger of one hand and muttered, "Read between the lines,"

I made sure to keep my returning smile as annoying as possible. Tonight was going to be pure torture for my best friend and I had absolutely no intention of making it any easier. Hey, what are best friends for?

Despite the fact that it was now lunch time and the match would only be taking place after the last classes, most of the students were already dressed in the colours of the team they would be supporting. Robes, hats, banners, scarves and badges decorated the hall like only supporters of a Quidditch match could. Most of the items to be seen were bright blue, the remaining houses choosing to side with Ravenclaw rather than the sneaky Slytherins.

Anne had taken this as a personal insult and draped herself in every green item she could get her hands on. She may not be Quidditch's number one fan, but nothing was going to stop her from supporting her man.

I on the other end didn't even wear a scrap of evidence showing which house I would be supporting. The glares Anne was receiving from our fellow Gryffindors were bad enough as it was. I had no desire to add fuel to the flame. Besides, most of them knew who I'd be supporting anyway. The fact that the school's most well known mortal enemies' relationship had done a one-eighty tended to spread pretty quickly in a place like Hogwarts.

I sat down next to Al who, in respect for me, was neutral as well. Usually he would have made sure to flash his support of Ravenclaw – even if he was only voting for them cause they were easier to beat that Slytherin if he had to play them in the finals. Since he was going with me he went against his usually tradition, but appeared, like me, to refuse to actually show any support for the green house.

He took one look at what Anne was wearing and hid a smirk behind his hand. It normally took plenty of begging, pleading and threatening before Anne reluctantly agreed to go anywhere near the Quidditch pitch and you would owe her for ages. This time all it took was Jake asking her if his girl would be supporting him.

Personally I found it a little unfair, especially considering Al was one of her best friends and she would never do that for him, but Anne had her own way of doing things. Al seemed to forgive her so who was I to keep a grudge?

"Why don't you look like a nauseous frog too, Rose?" Lilly asked as she slid in beside me. Her gaze was on Anne's over the top attire which was catching more glares by the second. Gryffindors weren't exactly the green monster's number one fans. They knew Anne was dating one and chose to ignore it the majority of the time, but supporting them outright? Now that was simply going too far.

I swallowed a bite of toast before answering. "I said I'd be there, not that I was going to make myself a target for Slytherin haters. If Scorp wants support, my presence will have to do."

"We're still going to make a banner though," Al said casually as he refilled his glass of pumpkin juice. He smirked as everyone showered him with worried stares. "Rose promised me an insulting banner and I for one can't wait to see it,"

I remembered those words well. I also remembered they had been said in an unmistakably joking tone, which Al would have definitely caught. He was teasing and for some reason I was in a good enough mood to tease back.

"Hmm, what should it yell at them? 'You bunch of sissies?'"

"How bout 'Fall fall fall!'" Lilly joked.

"'You call that flying? I've seen Rose Weasley fly better than that!'" Al added.

I kicked him in the shin under the table.

"'That's not the ball you're looking for Smith,'" James never missed a chance to chip in during a conversation. He smiled at Anne who wasn't at all pleased at him poking fun at her boyfriend.

"'Where did Slytherin get all those trolls?'" This was getting way too much fun.

"'Watch out for… Oh, well, he doesn't have much brain cells to lose anyway,'"

"'You lot look a little green,'"

"'It's okay, I understand it takes skill to fly and concentrate at the same time,'"

"'There's always next year,'"

I felt something wrap firmly around my neck. "How about, 'Don't look so confused Malfoy. It's a broom, not a Hoover,'"

I looked down at the dark green scarf now snugly draped around my neck, the Slytherin crest clear on the one edge, before looking up into Scorpius' laughing eyes.

"Wow Malfoy, I never would've figured you'd know what a Hoover is," James teased from the other side.

Scorpius' smile was his usually mischievous grin, but I could see a flash of nerves in there as well. He was desperately trying to hide it but it was there. He was the team's seeker after all, and if he messed up his entire team would suffer the consequences. I was immensely glad I didn't have to put up with that kind of pressure and willing to bet a hundred galleons he hadn't eaten a bite.

"I'm not a complete idiot when it comes to the muggle world, Potter. Admittedly the only reason I know what a Hoover is is because a sales person was demonstrating its use on the street and accidentally sucked up Dad's hat, but let's not dwell on that."

Al suddenly let out a laugh. "You know Malfoy, that's brilliant! I'm sending an owl to Grandpa right now to get started. Quidditch on Hoovers, it'll spread like wildfire!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes and looked down at me for help. I simply shook my head, laughing at my crazy family as they started putting forward ideas for the perfect flying Hoover. There wasn't much chance of stopping the Weasley/Potter gang once they got an idea into their minds.

"Ready for today?" I asked him instead. I made to move to the side and make space for him but he positioned his hands on my shoulders and firmly held me in place.

"I'm always ready, Rose," his tone was teasing and confident, no trace of his nerves showing. I heard a voice call him from behind us, somehow knowing he would have to go now. The pressure on my shoulders increased slightly. "You'll be there, right?" I could hear them now.

I lifted the edge of the scarf, twirling it casually. "Of course, I'm all dressed up after all."

"Good," he let out a sigh of relief before, to my utter surprise, dropping a quick kiss on my temple. "See you later then," He turned to leave but I quickly grabbed hold of one arm to stop him before pushing the rest of my toast between his teeth.

"Eat," I ordered before giving him a friendly shove. I watched him go, grinning as he took a large deliberate bite just to please me, before turning back to my family. "Now, what are we planning to do with those Hoovers?"

* * *

The lessons after lunch seemed to drag on forever. The professors had their hands full trying to keep their classes quiet and under control, but even their threats of deducting house points and extra homework couldn't calm the overexcited students. Normally the whole Quidditch vibe passed me by. It was fun cheering for Al but my cousin wasn't exactly a reason for me to go all fangirl. This time, however, I finally understood what the others felt like. I was nervous and excited and happy all at the same time. Not enough to have loud giggling conversations about how cute certain players were – like the bunch of girls in front of me – or debate who was going to win like others were, but the excitement was there never the less. The Quidditch players themselves were mysteriously absent but none of the professors seemed to mind. As I left Charms I could feel the glaring eyes of several Ravenclaws in my year on me, but refused to let it bother me. I had made Scorpius a promise and intended to keep it. Besides, their angry looks quickly switched to Anne as she marched past looking like a Christmas tree.

She grabbed me by the arm, propelling the two of us past the hordes of students at a deadly – well at least for me – pace. I managed to smack several people with my bag as I went, but Anne was practically dragging me so there was no way to stop and apologise. Besides, it was me. They knew how clumsy I was and how dangerous I could be with a bag over my shoulder. She only gave me enough time to dump my bag on my bed before dragging me downstairs again. We were one of the first people at the Quidditch pitch, claiming a seat right in the middle of the length of the pitch, about ten rows deep, to ensure we would have an easy view of both sides. I pulled out my pair of Omnioculars, pointing them at the tower where the headmaster and professors would be sitting so that I could focus them again. Grandpa had been the last to use mine and appeared to be as blind as a bat, meaning it took some time to get them to suit me once more. By the time I was done Al had joined us, his own Omnioculars in hand. Lilly and James dropped down behind me soon followed by Dominique, Fred, Louis and my brother.

James draped his arms around my shoulders, pulling me into a big brother hug. My family had always been tight and Grandpa often joked he wasn't always too sure who was who's kids. James may have only been my cousin but he felt much more like an older brother, even if he was only a year older than myself.

"Okay people; let's give these losers some proper Weasley support. Sorry bout the banner. I had one but Professor Johnson didn't think it would be… eh, supportive enough."

I placed my hands on his arms, resting my head against one of them. "Took it a little bit too far again, didn't you James?"

"Maybe just a lil' bit," He laughed. James always took things too far, it was just who he was. Gran always compared him to Uncles Fred and George before having a bit of a sob about Uncle Fred. It was still a sore spot that we all knew would never quite heal.

"Support? What are we suppose to do?" Hugo leaned back in his seat as he pulled a cap tightly onto his head. We redheads never fared all that well in the sun.

James thought for a moment. "Cheer when they score."

"And if the other team scores?"

"Cheer louder. I'll keep Rose's ears closed so she doesn't hear."

"Maybe you should've done that before you made that statement." I told him dryly.

James tugged his arms out of the hug before clasping both hands over my ears. I heard him repeat his previous sentence, his voice purposefully loud enough for me to hear what he said. I stuck out my tongue at him before settling back against James' knees. Anne's haste to get to the pitch had ensure we were way too early and would have to wait ages before the match started. I closed my eyes, allowing the friendly banter of my family to wash over me. They teased and joked as usual, grinding Fred for details on the new girl in his life. I smiled as I felt a cap being pulled over my own head, someone obviously realising that wouldn't take long for my face to turn tomato red.

"Rosie," I felt someone nudge me in the side, but my sleep clouded mind chose to ignore it. "Rose. Come on Rose. You promised that you'll watch him, not prove how loud you can snore."

"I don't snore." I growled as I opened my eyes. Wow, was I that easy to taunt awake? I blinked at the bright light, my eyes taking a second to focus and blink away sleep. Wait, watch who? Oh, right, Quidditch!

I sat up in a rush, grabbing my Omnioculars just in time to watch the teams walking onto the pitch. The Ravenclaws were first, the crowd going wild as they took to the sky, the captain making her way to the center of the pitch. The Slytherins were next, followed by loud boos. Anne shrieked like a banshee next to me, making my eardrums scream in terror. I resisted the urge to cover my throbbing ears; instead I scanned the field for the only person I came to watch. I didn't even notice the small smile that covered my face as he jogged out in his green Quidditch robes. Neither did I notice that annoying little knowing smile of Al's return. All I saw were Scorp's eyes scanning the crowds and by some miracle finding us. It was the Weasley red hair; there was no argument about it. He smiled, nodding his head slightly in acknowledgement before taking to the sky.

"Good evening Hogwarts!" the voice of a fellow sixth year, Malcolm Fry, filled the air. He was also in Gryffindor but would be voting for Ravenclaw like most of the school. He announced the team members of both teams. Once more the Slytherin names were booed at, but the moment the name 'Malfoy' was announced the air was filled with cheers. Mostly female by the sound of it.

I felt a wave of jealousy sweep through me, but the slight nudge from Anne's shoulder reminded me that everyone else thought he was taken. Even if it wasn't exactly the truth.

The captains shook hands before taking to the air. The sharp shriek of a whistle filled the air and the game began.

The Bludgers took to the sky, two black bullets shooting off in a wild whirl. The Golden Snitch paused for a second when it was let loose; twisting slowly like it was surveying the area, before zooming off. The referee, Master Shaw, took hold of the scarlet Quaffle and threw it into the air. It was instantly scooped up by a Ravenclaw player, immediately switching hands to another, then another as they barrelled down the pitch towards the three tall hoops situation at the end of the pitch. They balls passed from player to player as they dodged Bludgers and Slytherins in the process. They had nearly reached the hoops when a Bludger was smashed at the Chaser currently holding the Quaffle. It missed his nose by mere inches but it was enough to make him drop the scarlet ball. A Slytherin Chaser instantly caught it and the chase proceeded in the opposite direction.

The Omnioculars made it easy to follow the game. The players were good, I'd give them that, but not nearly at the level of the professional players that I'd seen in action in the games Uncle Harry had taken us to.

The minutes dragged on, the first ten minutes of play leading to only three scores – two to Ravenclaw, one to Slytherin. The game was brutal – as most Slytherin games were – and several penalties were called. Just as many were missed by the referee who simply couldn't be everywhere. Fry's voice was a constant noise in the background, but I cut in out, my focus completely on the game.

Another round of pass the ball started, a quick mid-air twist by one of the Chasers to avoid a Bludger and Ravenclaw scored again. The crowed yelled in enthusiasm, their moment of cheering distracting them from the sudden dive the seekers were taking. When they finally noticed what was happening the shouts became even louder.

My eyes fell to Malfoy, gluing themselves to him without any extra encouragement from my side. They swirled down in a nearly vertical dive, following the tiny golden ball as it fluttered ahead of them. The Snitch changed direction just in time to let the two Seekers manoeuvre out of the dive. They were both hot on the Snitch's heels, Malfoy inching ahead, the fingertips of his outstretched hands getting closer and closer. Seeing he wasn't going to get there first the Ravenclaw Seeker decided to take matters into his own hands and suddenly rammed into Scorpius' side. It was through skill alone that he managed to stay in the air, twisting several times before he managed to get his broom under control. The Ravenclaw smiled smugly. His actions may have saved his team from a quick loss but it had also allowed the Snitch to once more escape.

Scorp sneered at him before shooting higher into the air, his eyes once more scanning the pitch for a flutter of gold.

"Is he allowed to do that?" I was glad Anne was the one to ask, sure my voice would betray my anger at what had just happened.

Next to me Al shrugged. "There are no rules specifically preventing him from doing it. Malfoy wasn't hurt or knocked off his broom, so they can't exactly penalise him for it. It's looked down at though, not being very sportsman like after all, but that doesn't exactly stop people from doing it.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Quidditch is a stupid sport." She returned to her Omnioculars, scanning the pitch before settling on what I was pretty sure was Jake. I turned to Al, who was sticking his tongue out at Anne, nudged him in the shoulder before returning to the game.

The play was picking up speed, both sides showing tremendous skill and expertise as Bludgers and Quaffle flew through the air in rapid succession. The beaters on both sides were ruthless, steadily aiming their bats not only to deflect the dangerous black balls from their own players, but also sending them hurtling towards their opposition.

The Chasers were weaving in and out of the horizontal path they followed between both goals. Bludgers and opposition continuously caused changes in pattern and direction but the main idea remained the same. It was like they were following an invisible line leading straight from one end of the pitch to the other.

A collective gasp filled the air as one Bludger shot against the leg of the Ravenclaw captain. Slytherin took this as their chance, expertly stealing the ball before sending it past the Keeper and through the centre hoop.

"Another ten points to Slytherin," Fry announced over the loud boos of disappointment. "The teams are now tied at a hundred points each."

I felt Al tense next to me and peeled the Omnioculars away looked at his worried face. I could see him calculating the scores, taking into account the results of the previous games and working out how much Gryffindor was going to need to get in the next game. He didn't need to say it, I already knew what he was thinking. This game was going to have to end soon or it would become more and more difficult for Gryffindor to get that cup.

"Come on Scorp," I muttered under my breath, "Get that damn Snitch already."

My momentary distraction had allowed Malfoy to escape my view and I took a long hard sweep through the air in search of him. I paused as my gaze landed on the Ravenclaw Chaser wielding the Quaffle. Her aim was true but the Keeper was quicker, smacking the ball away in a quick spin of his broom. As I followed the Quaffle through the air my eyes landed on a small whirl of gold. If the Snitch was there, where was…

Scorpius zoomed through the air, the opposition Seeker once more glued to his side. They were further away from the Snitch this time, neither player allowing the other to get any closer. They appeared to be loosing ground on the small winged ball, the fight with the other allowing the Snitch to pick up speed and try to lose its annoying stalkers.

Scorp, however, wasn't going to let it get away this time. Making a hopeful calculation he suddenly veered of to the left, desperately hoping he had guessed the Snitch's movements correctly. A grin spread across his face a split-second later when he proved to be correct. He was gaining fast, his opposition too far away from him to stand even the slightest chance of getting there first. His hand shot out, his fingers inching nearer.

He suddenly dropped, just in time to avoid the Bludger that would have collided with his head. Once more the small ball sped off, leaving its pursuers in the dust. I saw Scorp's mouth open, letting out what I was pretty sure was a curse before once more raising higher and restarted his search.

I pushed the Omnioculars away again, making sure Al wasn't anxiously chewing up his nails yet. I was pretty sure he'd been hoping the Snitch would be caught before more points were scored. Even if it was caught by a Slytherin. I sincerely hoped the score wouldn't become much bigger as I returned to the game.

Whether it was Al and my hopes, the universe or just plain luck I didn't know, but not one single goal was scored within the next ten minutes. Numerous attempts were made but Bludgers, Beaters and Keepers thwarted every single try. The crowd cheers got louder at each attempt, the whole lot anxious for some action. I felt Anne's excitement as Smith got hold of the Quaffle and made another attempt at goal, but once more the Keeper denied him.

"Come on Jack!" I called loudly. He couldn't hear it over the noise, but Anne could and I felt her suck in a laugh next to me. Much as she pretended to dislike my tendency to 'forget' her boyfriend's name, deep down we all knew she found it utterly amusing.

"That's what we should've put on the banner," James laughed in my ear. "Imagine how much fun we could've had."

"If only we thought of that earlier. Instead we settled for insults and mockery. That'll teach us,"

"But insulting Slytherins is so much fun. If only Professor Johnson hadn't seen the banner, it would've been legen… Rose look!"

I searched the air wildly and once more settled on two players, a whirl of green and blue streaking trough the air.

"Catch the bloody thing already!" Al growled next to me.

"Come on Malfoy!" Anne hollered.

I remained quiet, instead watching them as closely as possible. Scorp was the one trailing this time, the Ravenclaw having been in a better position when they spotted the winged ball. There was a grin of extreme triumph on the Ravenclaw's face, showing that despite the fact that they weren't even close to the Snitch, he though he was going to get there first.

Come on Scorp, come on Scorp, come on Scorp! I had to physically stop myself from screaming the words.

The Snitch made a tight corner, both players following easily but Scorp's skills enabled him to gain a few more inches on his opposition. He was still behind but the change was enough to wipe the cocky grin from the Ravenclaw's face. They swept the length of the pitch, scattering players as they went. Play seemed to suspend, every eye drawn to the two figures crisscrossing the sky, a flutter of gold leading them on a wild goose chase.

Another tight corner, another violent dive, every difficult action bringing Malfoy closer and closer to leading the pack. The Ravenclaw was good, but Scorpius was just that much better. Al was going to have a tough time when they played Slytherin, I realised as the Seekers inched closer and closer to their target.

A Bludger charged at them, but both players easily rolled out of the way before sliding back into position. Another lap of the field commenced, the Snitch obviously just as determined not to be caught as the players were to catch it.

When they were nearly within touching distance the Snitch seemed to realise it was going to take a gamble to get out of the situation it was now in. It took it, diving down to the ground like a bullet. Its pursuers followed, neither seeming to care that the dive wasn't exactly safe. And that the Snitch didn't appear to be stopping. They kept on its trail, closer and closer, until suddenly the Ravenclaw pulled up. Any further down was suicide.

But Scorp stayed on its trail, his fingers touching the small ball and finally he managed to wangle them around it and encage the Snitch in the palm of his hand. He did a last minute flip and twirl, slowing the break-neck speed he was at enough to allow for a less lethal tumble when he finally hit the ground.

The world went dead quiet, every eye on the Seeker now lying in the middle of the pitch. I felt myself choke on a breath, unable to tear my eyes off him. Was he hurt, was he alive, was he a freaking moron?

He sat up suddenly and unexpectedly, his usual mischievous grin returning before he threw the arm holding the Snitch into the air. The crowd went absolutely bananas.

"Slytherin wins the match! 250-100!"

No one was too pleased at the result, but Scorpius antics seemed to have entertained the crowd enough for them not to care. I couldn't help but jump up with Anne, exited and overwhelmed by the moment – and more than ready to kick Scorp's ass for making me worry like that.

The rest of his team joined him on the ground, all overjoyed at the daring catch. He indulged them for a minute, letting them hug and tease him, before suddenly breaking away from the pack.

I watched in astonishment as he scanned the crowd, his eyes obviously looking for someone. I felt James poke me in the back, clearly sure who Scorp was looking for. He strode forward, a trail of blood running down one arm and from a small cut on his face but he was either oblivious or didn't care. He crossed the pitch easily, smiling at the people at the bottom row, pausing to let them congratulate him on a match well played before he suddenly made his way up the benches.

I was still on my feet next to Anne, ten rows up. The crowd seemed to part like the red sea, letting him past without a word of protest. Seems like being a Malfoy had plenty of advantages.

He stopped right in front of me, standing on the benches of the ninth row. Our height difference, however, meant that he was still as tall as I was.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself not to act like an idiot. "Nice game Malfoy. Would've been more fun if you'd finished that suicide dive, but I guess we can't have everything we want."

Scorpius grinned. "Depends who you are Weasley. I intend to have everything I want." I opened my mouth to retort – sarcastic Rose never backed away from a challenge – but he effectively cut me off when he wrapped both hands around my waist and pulled me firmly against him. "Every single thing," His words were a whisper, just loud enough for me to hear, before he claimed my lips in one heck of a passionate kiss right there in front of the entire school.

Hmmm, seems Quidditch matches weren't that bad after all.

* * *

**Thanks again to those who reviewed: MauraudersMischief, RealGirlsHaveCurves, PsychoBrunette, Gabrielav and m0rganosity! You guys are awesome!**

**If you didn't read the top, please do. One word for the next chapter: Hogsmeade**


	10. 9: A Date to Remember

**A/N at the bottom again.**

**Thanks so much to my beta, ****m0rganosity for making sure I don't sound (and spell) like a complete idiot.**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**A Date to Remember**

"You need to learn to be more careful," I scoffed as I took another swipe at the bloody cut on his cheek. Scorpius simply smiled in return, silently allowing me to clean the blood off his face and arm. Despite the fact that he had taken a pretty hard tumble, and seem to be the hospital wing's advocate when I was the one who needed it, he refused to go see the nurse. I had tried my best to get him to go, warning and threatening as only a Weasley could, but nothing seemed to change his mind.

I had had to give up. It was Friday night and Scorp and I had duty to attend to. Not that we were really doing any of our duties at that moment. We had ducked into an empty class under the disguise of checking for snogging students. Malfoy was seated on one of the desks and I was fixing him as best as I could with the first-aid kid I had grabbed out of my trunk after the match.

It wasn't that bad, all things considering. The wounds he had sustained were shallow cuts that could easily have been healed by the nurse, but Scorp wouldn't be persuaded.

"If only I had a Hello Kitty plaster," I teased as I dabbed at the wound again. He looked at me blankly, obviously clueless about what I was talking about. I reached for a clear plaster. "Not a complete idiot when it comes to the muggle world, eh?" I mocked, repeating the words he had used earlier that day in the Great Hall before sticking the plaster over the largest cut on his arm.

"I'm not sure knowing what something called 'Hello Kitty' is makes you an expert in all things muggle," He countered, lifting his arm to examine the sticky thing now glued onto his arm. "How exactly does this thing help?"

"It doesn't," I turned to put everything back in the first-aid kit. I froze half-way through as I felt his arms slide around my waist.

"Then why exactly did we have to go through that entire process."

"Cause it was fun torturing you." I tried to twist out of his hold, but he held firm, determined to keep me in place.

"Why Rose Weasley, is that an evil side I detect?"

"Maybe just a lil' bit," It was fun teasing him, even if it was strange feeling his arms around me. Good strange. New strange.

"Oh no, much more than just a little bit," He spun me around to face him, his hands keeping a firm hold on my hips as he started lowering his head.

I stopped him by clasping my hand over his mouth. "Scorpius, we're on duty. We're supposed to be patrolling the halls not…" I paused, unable to come up with the right words. Which was kind of rare for me if I was truly being honest. I liked being in control – heck, normally I fought tooth and nail for it – but the more time I was spending with Malfoy, the less control I felt I had.

"Making out like hormone crazed teenagers?" His playful words snapped me back to attention.

"Don't you dare," My voice was more of a whisper than a threat, my bark worse than my bite. And the annoying git knew it.

"Don't I get to say thanks?" He stole a quick kiss before I could protest.

"Why not just say thanks like a normal person?" I tried to contact sarcastic, always in control Rose, but she appeared to be taking an extended vacation. Darn her and her bad timing!

"Cause it's more fun torturing you,"

I rolled my eyes, well aware that he was throwing my words back at me. He stole another kiss, this time lingering a little. Just to torture me I was sure. And torture me it did.

"You have five minutes," I warned before throwing my arms around his neck and pulling him down for a proper snog. I ignored the part of my mind reminding me that this was Malfoy, that all of this was just me helping him escape from over eager females and that I shouldn't be falling for a guy like this. Not that I was falling for him. There was no way I would ever fall in love with a guy like Malfoy. Ever.

He didn't even put up a hint of resistance, one hand cupping my chin while the other dove into my hair. I couldn't exactly blame him, my hands were already twisted in his blond locks after all, but I knew I was going to look a bit like a windswept hairball by the time we left the classroom.

"Aren't we suppose to be stopping people from doing this," I managed to get out as we came up for air.

"Suddenly feeling sympathy for them?" He captured my lips in another searing kiss, making my mind go blank. He hadn't really wanted an answer anyway. I allowed my hands to explore, sliding through his hair down to his face. How had I never realized his hair was so soft? He's a guy, was it suppose to feel like all those darn shampoo commercials claimed it should?

My fingertips found the small cut I'd tended minutes earlier and I felt him flinch ever so slightly. With reluctance I pulled away.

"Duty," I reminded him. We were prefects for a reason and even if our job wasn't the most exciting thing to do, we were obliged to do it. Plus, loath as I was to admit it, things with Scorpius were going just a little too fast for comfort. Days earlier I wouldn't gladly beaten him to death with a stick – preferable his broom – and now, here I was, snogging him in an empty classroom. Dad was going to love this.

He let out a reluctant groan, stole one more kiss, and pulled back. "Fine. If we have to be all responsible,"

"Sorry Scorp, we do." I playfully pushed him in the chest, making him stumble backwards slightly, before I grabbed the first-aid kit and practically stormed out the classroom. It wasn't going to take much for me to change my mind and stay, so I made sure to get out of there before Scorpius figured it out. He caught up quickly, his long stride letting him cover ground much more efficiently than mine.

"I still think it's not fair," he murmured as we crossed the deserted hallway.

"What, that I choose to do duty rather than snog you to death?"

"No, but that's pretty unfair too." He grinned as I stuck my tongue out at him. "Keep guessing Weasley,"

"Okay, what about the fact that they're making us do duty on a Friday night?"

"Annoying, true, but still not what I'm referring too."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay Malfoy, how bout we do this? You wait here and I'll go fetch my mind reading device. No wait – you men all think about one thing, and one thing only. And frankly I really don't have any desire to hear that word repeated over and over again. So on second thought, why don't you just tell me what you're thinking before I knee you where it hurts most?"

"Well, since you're so persistent." He took a deep breath. "Sex sex sex sex sex." I was close enough to try and elbow him in the stomach, but he quickly dodged out of the way. "Oh Rose, you shouldn't make it so easy for me." Whether he was referring to my response or the bright red blush that had settled across my face, I wasn't all that sure. So instead I practically started stampeding down the corridor to the stairs. He finally caught up with me when I reached the stairs. "Aren't you interested in hearing what I think is unfair?"

"No," I was dying of curiosity, and the git knew it.

"If you say pretty please I might tell you,"

"Don't care."

"Not even a teeny bit?"

"No,"

"Come on love, I know you better than that," I froze at the name, never having been called love by anyone before. It felt weird, in sort of a nice way. I blocked my mind from overanalyzing the word and running away with ideas it had no right to.

I sighed in defeat and slowly turned. As expected, his triumphant grin was in place. "Fine, I'll bite. Oh Scorpius, what could ever annoy you and your brilliant mind? I am unworthy of hearing your answer but please, oh great one, won't you tell me?"

The smile instantly vanished. "I'm not all that sure I want to tell you if that's going to be your response."

"Take it or leave it, you're not getting another one. Besides, I know you're going to tell me anyway. I may be far too curious for my own good, but you're not much better. Keeping that knowledge inside you is going to slowly eat at you, slowly, slowly, until you need to tell me so badly that if you don't you'll burst!"

His expression was completely unimpressed. "Really, that's the best you can do? That may work with Anne love, but I don't crack that easily."

There was the new nickname again. So the first time hadn't just been a slip of tongue. I refused to accept that I kind of liked it.

He strode past me looking nonchalant. "Well, if you're not interested I'll just keep it to myself." He took the lead, heading off towards another deserted hallway.

Darn my flippen curiosity. I had to – no, I needed to know what he'd been going to say. I didn't even think about what I was doing. I simply took off at a run and pounced onto his back, virtually shouting, "Tell me, tell me, tell me," while pretending to try and throttle him.

I must have been deemed harmless because he helpfully caught my legs hanging at his sides and held onto them so I wouldn't slide off his back. He took a few steps before suddenly ducking forward, forcing me to wrap my arms around his neck and shoulders and hang on for dear life.

"You never learn, do you Rose," he told me as he straightened. "You can never outsmart a Malfoy. We are more devious than you'll ever be."

"And you moan like little girls when you're punched in the gut,"

I felt him wince. "You're never going to let me forget that, are you?"

"Nope. You're going have to spend the remainder of your days slaving to my every whim and begging on your hands and knees for my forgiveness." I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his cheek before sliding down his back. His hands followed me, making sure I was safely on my feet before he let go. He knew me well enough by now to know that I was just clumsy enough to fall down and land on my ass.

"Shall I shine your shoes while I'm down there?" At least I had gotten him back to playful mode.

I looked down at my shoes, tilting them slightly as I pretended to examine them. "You know, you may as well."

He opened his mouth, most likely to continue our round of verbal sparing when a loud giggle suddenly echoed through the hallway. We both froze in place, waiting for the sound to repeat itself. It did, this time obviously coming from a nearby classroom. I winched at the sound, my mood more than spoiled by the interruption.

"This is so wrong," I groaned as I realized what we were going to have to do. "Doesn't a feel a little hypocritical to you too? I mean after…" I couldn't get the rest of the sentence out.

Malfoy didn't seem to have the same problem. "After we pretty much did the same thing just now? Not really. Come on Rosie, you love busting snogging students. Don't you remember how much fun you use to have?"

"That's cause I was busting your chops, not cause I discovered snogging students. How was it you always managed to temp a new girl into breaking the rules with you?"

His smile was dangerous to any female's health. He moved so he was standing right in front of me, leaning forwards so his face was mere inches away from mine. I could feel his breath on my cheek as he murmured, "It must be a gift, love,"

I felt my cheeks turn tomato red at the realization that I had kind of been one of those girls. I frowned, placed both hands on his chest and shoved him away before rushing to the classroom door.

I threw the door open, perhaps a little harder than necessary – oops – and encountered exactly what I had been expecting. This I could deal with without feeling like an incompetent fool. This was what I'd been doing since I was old enough to order Hugo around. I puffed myself up, prefect Rose taking her place.

"Excuse me," It didn't sound like a question. It wasn't supposed to. Neither was I asking to be excused, I was asking what the hell the two of them were doing. And they knew it.

Five minutes and two detentions later I was back on patrol. Scorpius was surprisingly quiet as I mentally gloated on a job well done. I knew James always liked goading me about my rule following ways, but really, it was just the fun of scaring the hell out of people that made it all worth the while. I was just glad it wasn't Mr. Potter himself in that classroom. It had happened before and I really didn't want to relive the experience.

"You know," Scorp sounded thoughtful as he followed me, "You can be damn scary sometimes."

I grinned. "Oh, I know. I get it from my mom. You should see her in action. One word: terrifying."

"I'll take your word for it."

We walked in silence for a minute or so before I realized he had never finished his earlier sentence. "You know, you never did tell me what you think is unfair."

"That's cause you kept interrupting me." I glared at him but it had little effect. "But, since I'm feeling so charitable tonight, I'll tell you,"

"Lucky me." The reaction was automatic, despite my curiosity.

"I'm going to ignore that. I was going to say that it's unfair that we have to spend the night doing duty," he put one arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, "when I could be celebrating an absolutely marvelous Quidditch win with my girl,"

I ignored his boasting, focusing instead on how sweet – some of – the sentence was. Celebrating with his girl. I looked up at him, temporarily forgetting that it was all a sham, letting the joy of feeling special wash over me.

I should have reminded him I wasn't his girl. I didn't.

"There's always tomorrow," I reminded him instead.

"That there is love," he agreed.

* * *

By the time duty was done I was more than exhausted. The long and exciting day had managed to catch up with me and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for a year. Scorpius didn't look any better, his eyelids drooping every now and then even as he walked. How he stayed upright Merlin alone knew. I had to stop myself from cheering out loud when duty finally came to an end.

"Come, I'll walk you back to your dorm," His voice was sleepy but firm.

I was half amused at his show of chivalry. "Scorpius, you can barely stay awake, never mind walk all the way to the Gryffindor common room then back down to the dungeons. Go sleep, I'll be fine."

He was going to argue – he always chose to argue – but stopped himself when a girl suddenly appeared in the hallway. "It's past curfew!" he called instead.

The girl shuffled forward, looking at us – or more specifically Scorpius – with terrified eyes. I recognized her as a fifth year Hufflepuff student. Her stick straight blond hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, her thick round glassing making her look like what I would normally refer to as a nerd. Hypocritical I know, but there simply wasn't another way to describe it. She wasn't anything extraordinary, more one of those who tended to blend into the background, but I knew she wasn't a rule breaker. It was beyond strange seeing her breaking a rule as important as curfew. She was still dressed in her school robes so the trip obviously wasn't unplanned. In her hands she clutched a small box. I couldn't see what it was, but it looked a little bit like some sort of gift.

"I – I'm sorry. I just quickly needed to speak with you, M-Malfoy," she stuttered slightly, sounding scared stiff.

I smiled kindly at her, hoping it would calm her nerves. I knew how scary it could be speaking to someone who exerted as much authority as Scorpius. It wasn't exactly a walk in the park, especially if you couldn't tell when he chose that day to be big-headed. Today thankfully wasn't one of those days.

I turned back to him. "Like I said, I'll be fine. When and where do I get you tomorrow?" We never did discuss just where this 'fake date' was going to take place.

He thought for a second. "How about I get you ten-thirty at Madam Puddifoot's? There's something I need to do before hand so I won't be able to walk you there."

I ignored the memory of Uncle Harry's dislike for the place as Scorpius mentioned the tea shop's name. It wasn't a place for disastrous dates like he swore, I reminded myself. Just because his date had gone down the toilet didn't mean everyone's would. "Sure, that sounds fine. I'll walk with Al or James. Anne will probably be to busy hanging onto Jack's arm."

Scorp shook his head, amusement clear in his eyes. "You're never going to let that one go, are you?"

"Nope," I winked before happily making my way back to the common room, all thoughts of Scorp and the scared looking Hufflepuff instantly escaping to be replaced by a clear image of my bed.

* * *

How I got up the next morning I wasn't all that sure. Late night duty and an early morning didn't bode all that well for a sleep dependent witch like me. Weekends were normally spend catching up on lost sleep – even if that wasn't technically possible – and the fact that everyone around me were buzzing in excitement about spending the day in Hogsmeade wasn't making it any better. I was thoroughly tempted to pull a Marilyn Green and toss a shoe at those making the noise, but knowing how bad my aim was enough to discourage me. I would only end up making things worse in typical Rose fashion. Merlin knew I'd end up actually hitting someone in the head instead of strategically missing. I let out a mix between a moan and a sigh and forced myself to face the day.

Not that that seem to help.

I practically had to roll myself out of bed, my torso refusing to snap into a sitting position, before I dragged my weary body to the bathroom for a nice hot shower. I ended up hogging the hot water a little longer than technically necessary – and causing one hell of a line in the process – but it was exactly what I needed. Even if the glares that followed me out the bathroom weren't.

For once in my life I was extra careful with what I wore, settling for a nice pair of jeans and a cute cashmere sweater that was a shade of blue that matched my eyes. I refused to admit that I was feeling nervous at the prospect of my 'date', instead blaming the butterfly effect on my lack of sleep. I wondered if Scorpius was already in Hogsmeade as I wand dried my hair. My eyes narrowed slightly when I realized for the first time that the appearance of the Hufflepuff girl was a teeny bit strange. And what the heck had she been holding?

The thought quickly escaped my mind when I realized I was running late and if I didn't finish pronto I was going to miss breakfast. Lack of sleep was bad enough, but Rose without her breakfast? It was a bit like poking a werewolf with a stick while yelling, "Eat me, eat me!"

I managed to finish in what could only be a new Rose Weasley record. I could already see the banners waving and people cheering in my mind as I grabbed a small sling bag and made my way down the girls' dormitory staircase. The ever present first year was in the way again. You'd have though she'd have learned to duck for cover every time she saw my ugly mug by now, but nope, she still had to get run over.

Al was already downstairs waiting for me. How that boy knew he had to do that I didn't know, but he always seemed to be there when I needed him. He was sitting by the fire, his arm resting on the armrest while his face leaned against his open palm. At closer range I could see his eyes were shut, his breath coming slowly and evenly.

My eyes narrowed again. Nice to know I had the ability to make those waiting for me fall asleep. I hadn't taken that long. I just hadn't been able to wake up.

Sneaking a quick peek to make sure no one was there to witness my stealthy – well as stealthy as someone as clumsy as me could be – attack, I sneaked forward. My evil loony like grin was firmly in place as I slowly inched forward. Closer. Closer.

"Whah!" James suddenly leaped in front of me, scaring me half to death before pouncing on me and wrestling me over his shoulder. His shout sent Al shooting up onto his feet, his expression dazed and confused.

"What the…" he fumbled for his wand, but let's just say if we'd been Death Eaters he'd be long gone by the time he found it.

"Look what I found, little brother," James easily held onto my struggling form, dodging kick and punches with ease. I wasn't going to go down without a fight after all, but James was more than use to my antics. "Come on, we're going to miss breakfast if you stand there looking at me with that drooling idiotic expression,"

Al quickly swiped at his mouth, checking to make sure he wasn't really drooling like a baby. Assured that he wasn't, he followed James out the common room. I was still slung over my cousin's shoulder, calling him every bad name I could think of. He ignored me of course. I stopped struggling when we reached the stairs, not exactly excited by the prospect of tumbling down them. I though James would get tired of his game by then and put me down. He didn't. He proceeded to carry me all the way to the great hall, making sure to ram my feet into every tapestry, painting and suit of armor he could find along the way (and nearly into one of the Professors, but that may have been unintentional. I kind of wished he had as the darn man only stared at us with his mouth agape, not even bothering to try and stop the crazy seventh year from manhandling me). A loud round of snickers followed us as he sauntered over to the Gryffindor table before finally putting me back on my own feet.

He held out his hand right in front of my face. "That'll be eight ninety-nine."

"I'll show you what you can do with your eight ninety-nine," I muttered under my breath as I slid onto the bench.

Breakfast went past without any more hitches. I stuffed myself like someone who hadn't seen food in years, my nerves – which I still refused to acknowledge – working the opposite way of most people's.

Al looked at me for a second, shrugged, and proceeded to do the same. He wasn't nervous, just being a male. James on the other hand was simply being a pig.

"Chew, then swallow," I reprimanded him between bites.

"I've tried that." Lilly was the only one who wasn't stuffing her face. "It's like trying to teach a bird not to fly into a window. They'll hit the glass and feel the pain, learn their lesson, and then two minutes later do it all again."

"Dad once said they do so because they get mesmerized by Mom's red hair." Al winched. "She didn't like that."

"Yeah, I remember what she did that time he tried to start a round of 'Ginger punch' at Christmas. You'd have thought being the Boy-Who-Lived he'd have the sense not to do that in a houses filled to the brim with Gingers." Strangely Aunt Ginny had been the only one who had been upset. The rest of us found the whole deal rather amusing, especially since Uncle Harry had to spend the next hour explaining the whole concept to Aunt Fleur. Like Aunt Ginny, she really didn't get the point of the game.

Al shrugged. "Uncle Ron found it hilarious."

"Dad thinks chucking empty beer bottles at the gnomes in the garden is hilarious. I don't think he's the shining example you should be looking for." I didn't mention the fact that Dad, Hugo and I had created a sport out of the whole thing. Extraordinarily I was it the lead. Apparently gnomes fell into the category of things my ability to cause harm worked on. I didn't mean to hit them – I kind of felt sorry for the disgusting things in a weird was – so I always tried to miss. And then proceed to hit them right in the noggin.

Mom, of course, knew nothing about it. We didn't want a second S.P.E.W. on our hands after all. S.P.G.W. was way too hard to pronounce.

"Soooo," Al tried to sound casual, and of course failed miserable. Okay, here it came. There was only one person he'd try to sound casual about. "Where's Malfoy."

Ding dong, knew it.

I took a casual sip of my water, playfully narrowing my eyes at Al. "What would you say if I told you I had him tied to my bed where I plan to keep him for the rest of the year and use him as my sex slave?"

"Yes please," Lilly said instantly. I snorted before the two of us burst out in a round of giggles. Al looked more like he was going to be sick. James nodded in respect at his little sister's audacity.

"Lighten up Al," I smacked him in the shoulder, hoping to get him to relax just a teeny bit. Otherwise neither of us were going to survive today. "I'm meeting him in Hogsmeade later today. He had some things to do. I thought I'd grab you lot, go say hi to Uncle George and grab a couple of things to entertain us till the next Hogsmeade weekend."

"Yes please," Lilly repeated. "Thank Merlin, I though I was going to have to go with these two buffoons."

James smiled sweetly. "Aww, we love you too Lil. It's so nice when your siblings appreciate you."

Lilly didn't even look a teeny bit guilty at his words. "Need I remind you what happened last time James Sirius Potter?"

James pretended to be clueless. "What?"

Lilly held up one hand, ticking off finger by finger as she listed the events. "You borrowed half my money, hinted to Uncle George that I was sexually active, spilled Butterbeer down the entire front of my white dress, begged Michael Day to go out with me and then proceeded to leave me stranded in the middle of Hogsmeade all by my lonesome,"

"I thought Day would be enough of a gentleman to walk you back to the castle,"

"He couldn't get out of there fast enough. He still hasn't been able to look me in the eye."

James waved one hand nonchalantly. "You're over reacting. Besides, Uncle George knew I was yanking your chain. He thought the whole situation was hilarious."

"Mom didn't."

James' face fell instantly. "He told her?"

"Yup. You, my dear brother, are so gonna get it come Christmas."

"Damn," James looked her over, assuring she was telling the truth. She was. I'd seen the letter for myself. "Damn," he repeated, "I would've made up a better lie if I knew I'm going top get in trouble anyway. Maybe I should have told him you were pregnant."

"Oh, Aunt Ginny would have loved that."

His gaze turned to me. "Maybe I should tell him it's you instead."

"I think that'll blow up quite nicely in your face. Mom knows I'm even less popular in that area than she was. And if you mention Malfoy she may just die laughing. She'll never believe you and you know it."

His smile was replaced with a frown. "Why is our entire family such a sneaky lot?"

"Imagine how boring it would've been otherwise. Come on you lot, we better get a move on if we want to still fit into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes." I pushed my plate away from me and rose from the table.

"Yeah, that place fills up faster than Grandma Weasley kitchen at dinner time,"

"And we all know how difficult it is too out race our family when it comes to food. Maybe I should enter you lot in the next Olympics." I grinned at James and Al. "Do you think they'll allow us to attach a stick to your head with a piece of steak dangling from it on a string?"

Al pretended to be upset. "You know I do believe she's insulting us, James. James?"

James had a huge loony grin pasted on his face, his mouth hanging slightly open like he was drooling. "Hmm, steak."

Al rolled his eyes. "I don't know any of you."

"You don't?" I looked at him curiously. "Are you sure, cause I was just about to say you look damn familiar."

"How odd. You must recognize me from my numerous acting gigs and magazine covers. It's so hard being famous nowadays. Everyone wants to know you."

James grunted a laugh. "The only movie I've ever seen you play in was the one they took of your first grade play. Strange that the rock with no words would become so famous."

Al shrugged. "What can I say, I make any role look good." He turned to me, practicing his fake movie star grin as he did. "Would you like my autograph Miss Weasel?"

"Sure Mr. Pooper. Maybe I can sell it on 'Has-been-dot-com' for a hefty profit. I'm sure I saw a section for first grade rocks on there somewhere."

Al leaned over the table to borrow a pen and paper from one of our neighbors, scribbled something onto it and passed it to me.

I couldn't contain my laughter as I read his loopy scrawl.

**To Ross Weasel, my number one fan. You ROCK. Love and Kisses (cause kisses are cool, yo), Alvis Pooper.**

* * *

Much as I had predicted, Uncle George's shop was filled to the brim by the time we managed to enter the colorful shop. I stopped momentarily, my eyes drinking in the sight of rows upon rows of magical joke items. From previous knowledge I knew there was a section dedicated to muggle items as well, but everywhere else magic sparked. Students were falling over themselves to get to the various items, some gaping over new items while others stared with unease, not really trusting the joke items. I didn't blame them. Uncle George's products sometimes had a way of – eh – doing the unpredictable.

A cute little creature dashed past my foot, one of the shop workers hot on its heels. All around me people were shouting, screaming, laughing and joking, all eagerly enjoying their time out of the castle. It felt homey, like I was back amongst the crazy Weasley clan. If there was one thing to say about the Weasley family, chaos always seemed to enfold.

I could see James at the till, wildly flirting with the new cashier who was obviously not interested. Al and Lilly were browsing the new products, almost doubling over with laughter over something that Lilly was holding up.

I decided against joining either group. James was likely to get slapped within the next few minutes and I wasn't in a mood to buy some of Uncle George's jokes. The few times I had tried some they had pretty much gone off in my face. In some cases literally. Instead I headed over to the back of the shop where a door stood with a plaque stating 'Employees only'. I ignored it and headed right inside.

As expected Uncle George was behind his desk in his office. He was half seated on his chair behind a large oak desk, his face pressed nearly flat on the surface as he examined a small object in front of him.

"One moment Rosie," he called as I approached. He turned his head the other way, frowning at either what he found or a lack of it. His eyes squinted, his brow furrowing in the same movement. "That's strange." He reached out to poke at the small box. "It's suppose to be have some sort of reac –" At the touch of his finger the box exploded in a cloud of white smoke, showering Uncle George with what looked like chalk.

I held back the laugh I was dieing to give, pretty sure the reaction hadn't been what he had been expecting. "Interesting,"

Getting to his feet his feet, he proceeded to try and brush the chalk off with his hands, but to no avail. "Agreed. Interesting but not really what it was suppose to do. It might still sell though. I know I wouldn't have been able to resist such a treat back when I was at Hogwarts. Fred and I would have made sure Filch got his grimy hands on one of them." He grinned at the idea. Unlike Grandma Molly, Uncle George chose to remember the good days with his twin instead of mourning over what he no longer had. "But back to important things. Come, give your uncle a nice big hug,"

"Oh no," I backed away carefully, my eyes on the white substance firmly covering the front of my uncle. There was no way I wanted to look like a ghost when I met Scorpius later. Uncle George either didn't know that or didn't care because he advanced like a lion about to pounce on his prey. I knew how this was going to end if I didn't react fast. I twisted on the spot and sprinted for the door leading back to the shop, but Uncle George was faster. I squealed with laughter as he grabbed me from behind, spun the two of us in a circle, before twisting me around and crushing me in a huge bear hug. I knew by now I'd be covered by the white substance. Strangely enough I didn't care too much. It was nice seeing my uncle again for the first time in months. The Weasleys were a tight family. All five million of us.

I returned the hug before pulling away to examine my appearance. Yup. Covered.

"Uncle George, no, now I'm going to look like ghost for my date."

Oops, wrong this to say.

His eyebrows rose. "Date? What date? Who is he? Give it to me woman! I need a name, age, address –"

I knew him well enough to know he was only poking fun at me so I simply laughed in response. "Uh uh, if I tell you then it's only a matter of minutes before mom and dad find out. And between you and me, I'd rather not have dad interrogating the poor guy like he's some kind of criminal."

Uncle George chuckled. "Yeah, Ronald does have a way with words sometimes. Come, let's see if we can get this stuff off." He paused for a second. "Maybe I should go greet the rest first." He sent a mischievous wink in my direction before making his way to the door and sneaking into the other room.

* * *

We managed to get the stuff out in the end – well, most of it anyway. There were still a few white splotches on my jeans and sweater as I exited Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for what was to come. I was relieved beyond belief that Uncle George hadn't pressed the matter when I hadn't told him the name of my 'date'. News would have definitely reached dad in some way and I really didn't need his usual 'I hate Malfoy' speech.

The town was crowded with student and I had to force my way through the hordes to get to the cozy little coffee shop known as Madam Puddifoot's. As I headed for the door I shook the sudden feeling of dread that swept down my spine.

Come on Rose, how bad could it be? It's just a date, and a fake one at that. You have nothing to worry about.

Inside the air was warm and relaxing. I could smell the rich flavor of coffee in the air, a smell I personally adored. It reminded me of a small muggle café that mom loved taking me and Hugo to. A place Grandma Granger had often taken her to after they had spent the day in Diagon Alley shopping for her school things.

The tables were crowded with couples, all of them completely engrossed by their partner – holding hands, laughing, flirting and, some of the more risky, snogging like the world was about to end. I wasn't all that surprised to see Fred sitting on one end with yet another brain-dead beauty. He winked at me as I passed, not looking all that surprised to see me there either.

Sheesh, did the entire world know I was meeting Malfoy there?

"Apparently so," I muttered under my breath as Anne spotted me from across the room and wildly waved her arms in a motion similar to that used to park an airplane.

I wiggled my hand in a small wave to let her know I could see her. It was embarrassing enough without the whole Hogwarts knowing I was there on a date. And why exactly was it embarrassing?

I bit my bottom lip as I scanned the room. Okay, I'll admit it. It was embarrassing cause I, Rose Weasley, was nervous as hell. Hey, I hadn't exactly been on a date before this and wasn't all that sure what to expect. And the fact that it was with Scorpius Malfoy wasn't making this much easier. He had a way of winding me up the wrong way, but never before had I felt this kind of nervousness at the prospect of seeing him. It was nerve-wracking. I wasn't someone who liked not knowing what to feel and at that moment, surrounded by students who were clearly all in love – or at least in lust when you considered most teenage boys – with their partner, I had never felt more out of place.

I had to force myself to step forward, leaning heavily on my so called Gryffindor courage as I scanned the room for a blond head. There were plenty of them – mostly girls who had bleached their hair so they could look even faker than they already were – but I couldn't see the one person I was looking for.

I looked down at my watch with a frown. That's strange. I was exactly on time – usually an impossible feat for me, I know – and he should have been here ages ago. He was the one who was always on time, after all, and had been the one to choose the location and time in the first place. I looked over at Anne but she was once more deep in conversation with Jack. Oh boy, that name was beginning to stick mentally. The poor poor thing. He was going to be Jack for the rest of his unfortunate life.

"Can I help you?" A middle aged lady in a waitress outfit was standing in front of me.

I blushed in response. Oh goodie, she obviously thought I was either lost or being stood up. Just what I needed. "Uh, no thanks. I'm just looking for someone."

She smiled at me kindly – damn, she did think I was being stood up! – and nodded. "Alright, let me know if you need some help."

I smiled in return as she left, desperately holding in the need to scream, "I'm not being set up!" I wasn't, was I? He said he'd be there and I had to trust he had told the truth.

Don't let your imagination run wild Rosie! Just relax. He's here, or he'll be here. Just take a deep breath. Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't – There he is!

Ignoring the urge to fall over with relief – or scream, "Yes!" at the top of my lungs – I headed over to the blond head that came into view. All this time he'd been hidden by a cascade of dark brown curls belonging to –

"Kate?" There was no hiding the surprise in my voice when I realized who was cozily sitting opposite Scorpius. And when I say cozily, I mean cozily. She had kicked off her shoes – with heels long and small enough to kill a giant – and had her stockinged feet tucked underneath her as she half lounged on the chair. Both her elbows were pressed on the table and her chin was resting on her entwined hands. She had been smiling coyly at Scorpius before I had interrupted. At my presence it instantly turned into a rude sneer.

The weird thing however was Scorp's actions. He'd been sitting there looking like all those obsessed guys at the surrounding tables but was now glaring at me instead. I'd have thought he'd be grateful for me interrupting Kate's usual self-obsessed talks, but instead he looked at me – just like the old Malfoy use to.

"What do you want Weasley?" His voice was cold and cruel, not even a hint of the sweet guy I'd gotten to know over the past week showing.

I couldn't stop the shock at his words from showing on my face. "What do you mean? You asked me to come here remember?"

What the hell was going on? Was I missing something obvious? It sure looked like it cause Kate was giggling in that way that made me want to smack her head off.

"Oh Weasley," her giggling voice was not exactly what I needed right now, "you sure are easy to play. What do you think is happening here? Scorpius and I are on a date, and stringing you along this week was just part of our little game. Why do you think he asked you to help him in the first place? Your lovely personality? Your family connections? Did you forget that he hates you Weasley?"

Merlin but I wanted to slap here there and then. Instead I looked over at Scorpius who was glaring at me, cool and uncaring. Was it true, had he been acting this entire time? I wasn't going to believe it unless the words came out of his mouth. And I sure as hell wasn't having that conversation in front of Kate the Bitch.

I grabbed him by the arm, digging my nails into it to assure him he didn't have a choice but to follow me. I dragged him out the door. There was no way I was having this conversation in a cutesy romantic place like this either.

"What the hell is going on Scorpius?" I heard the anger and confusion in my own words, wincing internally when I realized I had failed to hide them. I waited for his answer, waited for him to tell me Kate was lying at that the last week hadn't been done for the sole purpose of proving me a complete and utter fool.

As I looked him in the eyes I knew that answer wasn't going to come. They were cold and uncaring, the warmth I'd grown accustom to a mere dream at this stage. His frown was deep set, the sneer I hadn't seen since the beginning of the week back in place.

"Come on Weasley, you're not that dense. I'm surprised you let me convince you so easily, after all, out history isn't exactly pleasant, is it? You want me to tell you Kate is making up lies to make her feel better about herself, right? Sorry love, I can't do that. Kate made me a little deal before this whole thing started and I decided, why not? It gave me the chance to show you just how easy you are to manipulate, little Weasel. And I got to have fun doing it." His sneer became more pronounced. "Accept it Weasley, the two of us can never be friends. And you will never be able to beat me. I'll always be calling the shots. Now go ahead, crawl back to that useless family of yours. I have a date to get back to."

My hands balled into fists as I looked up at his eyes, desperately searching for some kind of hint that he was joking. There was none. Nothing but the Malfoy I'd known since first year. I tightened my fists until they were shaking but found I couldn't do what I so badly wanted to. I couldn't hit him for what he did. He had played me like a fiddle and I couldn't even punish him for it. Was I that weak? Was I someone who just let others walk over me as they pleased?

No that wasn't it. I blinked away the tears I could feel coming, refusing to let Malfoy ever see me cry over him. Refusing to let his see that I now realized what I'd refused to admit to myself that entire week.

I couldn't hit him because I was completely and utterly heartbroken.

He turned to leave, but I wasn't done yet.

"Well done, Malfoy," he paused, half turning at my words. I forced myself to sound brave and unfazed, despite my inner turmoil. "You win. You finally win. I'm done. I've had more than enough – of you and this silly little competition we've had all these years. I hope you're pleased by finally bested the daughter of a muggle-born." I pointed a finger at the shop. "Go, collect your prize. I hope you're happy Malfoy, cause I just can't make myself care anymore."

With that I turned, refusing to look back as I walked away. Refusing to acknowledge the pain that shot through me, refusing to think of anything, of anyone, nothing but the ground right in front of me. I headed straight back to the castle, not caring that my family was waiting for me in Hogsmeade to report back after my date.

My date, ha, what a complete and utter joke.

I ignored the other students along the road. None of them minded me anyway. The route seemed that much longer than usual, the numbness flowing through my veins making it all the worse. I forced my mind to remain blank as I entered the gate that led to Hogwarts, open today for the sole purpose of allowing the students to return at will. Those exiting on the other hand were still lined up to hand their permission slips to the professors.

I was relieved no one tried to stop me for a chat, all of them too focused on getting out of there to notice one lone Weasley making her way back to the castle. I wasn't in a mood to talk just then. I knew the first person who asked me if I was okay at this stage was most likely going to need therapy for the rest of their lives.

Thankfully the halls of the castle were deserted and I was able to make my way to and up the grand staircase without interruption. Peeves was there, though, but I must have looked like too easy a target because he ignored me.

There were plenty of people in the common room, but once more they were too busy with their own lives to notice me. I dragged myself up the staircase of the girls' dormitory to my deserted room.

Everyone else was in Hogsmeade having fun.

No one else had been stupid enough to fall in love with their worse enemy and then have it rubbed in their face by prissy little Kate.

I sat down on my bed, my eyes starting to water. I swiped at it with my sleeve, refusing to let him reduce me to this. But I was fighting a losing balance and I knew it. So I let my resistance fade, allowing myself for the first and only time to cry over Scorpius Malfoy.

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait guys! This chapter was a lot harder than I had expected, and besides, it's twice the length of what I usually post so you can't complain!**

**I wonder who of you will figure out just what is going on. If you're right, I may just reward you with a little something I'm working on.**

**Thanks sooooo much for all the reviews (I should hold more chapters hostage!): Lovestoread456, Wierd and Wonderful, TheInnerMusingsOfMe, No. 8, whatapileofshit10, PsychoBrunette, RealGirlsHaveCurves, MauraudersMischief, Lex, Mizuno-Suzuka, 3rdemosewa, Dramione-Fan 17, theenglishgirl, Diane Potter, marrou, Harryfan94 and Conway100. I owe you all a private message to say thanks. Have patience please, I trying to come up with the time. I will one day – I hope.**

**Anyway, let me know what you guys think (or I may just play evil Slytherin again (thanks for making me realize that MauraudersMischief =P )).**

**Oh, and please don't kill me (ducks and covers).**

m0rganosity


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